To Heaven
Reading time: 2 minutes
I.
An 88 year old woman decided to learn Hebrew and when a vicar asked her why, she answered: “In the fullness of time I want to be able to greet your Boss in his native tongue.”
From: H.V. Zimmermann, Geluksbegrip. Een verkenningstocht door de wereldliteratuur (Bussum 1972), p. 296.
II. Epitaph of a Cosmopolitan
“Been everywhere else.”
Authentic epitaph on a gravestone erected at Knockcroghery, [Central Ireland] Quoted from: Raymond Lamont Brown, Irish Grave Humour (Dublin 1987), p. 43.
III.
Max Eastman’s mother (Eastman lived from 1883 till 1969) was a clergyman’s daugther.
She told Max about an occurence a long time ago, when someone accompanied her father on a walk. As they approached a crossroads, the man wanted to say goodbye to her father: “Reverend, I think this is where we part company.”
Her father answered: “We parted company a long time ago: I am on my way to heaven and you on your way to hell.”
From: Max Eastman, Enjoyment of Living (1948); p. 17 of the Dutch edition: Het verrukkelijke leven (1949.
Translated by Ite Wierenga