Found these words picturesque...

Peter Baker's report in The Telegraph, Calcutta, with regard to President Obama's invitation to President Hollande for a state dinner had this sentence I found irresistible:

'Should there be dancing if the romantically complicated guest of honour has no one to dance with?'

A word that stopped me short today...

Gaslighting.

It is manipulation of someone by psychological means......deliberate manipulative distortions with the intent to confuse the thinking...

I also thought this was a brilliant phrase...

'emotional economy' from Lessing.

Lessing says, 'As i grew older and became cleverer at managing my emotional economy....'

From Doris Lessings...

Walking in the Shade

Time is different at different times in one's life.

Thought this was a brilliant way of referring to time in one's time line...

On solitude and aloneness...

Maya Angelou says, 'Solitude can be a much-to-be-desired condition. Not only is it acceptable to be alone, at times it is positively to be wished for.'

One savors solitude...

One also battles to preserve beloved solitudes...

Aloneness on the other hand has an element of alienation. It means to be isolated and lonely...

While solitude has a positive connotation, aloneness does not.

I got this fascinating one from...

Christiane Amanpour's talk with Historian Simon Schama:

......civil war of culture which is so ennervating......

Never thought about the clashes of the various cultures as a civil war....but it can be just as deadly...

This I got from Oprah's newsletter...

The 'Thought for Today Newsletter'

It's a wonderful word and extremely meaningful...

Emotional pirate

Someone who leaves you feeling emotionally looted...