Two from Anna Akhmatova

On Reading Hamlet

A barren patch to the right of the cemetary,

behind it a river flashing blue.

You said: " All right then, get thee to a nunnery,

or go get married to a fool..."

It was the sort of thing that princes always say,

but these are words that one remembers.

May they flow a hundred centuries in a row

like an ermine mantle from his shoulders.

Three things enchanted him...

Three things enchanted him:

white peacocks, evensong,

and faded maps of America.

He couldn't stand bawling brats,

or raspberry jam with his tea,

or womanish hysteria.

...And he was tied to me.

--
see Philip Mc Donagh's Irish Times piece

Rilke Sonnet from Sonnets to Orpheus

Don't lay a stone to his memory. The rose

can bloom, if you like, once a year for his sake.

For Orpheus is the rose. His metamorphosis

takes this form, that form. No need to think

about his other names. Once and for all:

when there's singing, it's Orpheus. He comes and goes.

It's enough if sometimes he stays several

days; more, say, than a bowl of roses.

He has to vanish so you can understand.

Even if it frightens him to dissappear.

While his word is transforming our beings here

he's somewhere else, past following.

The lyre's grill doesn't pinch his hands.

Even as he breaks rules, he's obeying.

Hannah Arendt Quote

"A crisis becomes a disaster only when we respond to it with pre-formed judgements, that is, with prejudices"

--
I can't decide if this is a good quote or extremely trite. Maybe I'm robbing it of its meaning by denying it context?