Serendipity

Twenty-three thousand a year. This is the number that made all the difference between a college degree and a high school diploma, according to a new survey.

Now, for the interesting parts of this report:

Texas had the lowest proportion of adults with at least a high school diploma, about 78 percent. It was followed closely by Kentucky and Mississippi.

Here come the numbers:

High school dropouts earned an average of $19,169, while people with advanced college degrees made an average of $78,093.

Non-Hispanic whites had the highest proportion of adults with a high school diploma or higher (90 percent), followed by Asians (88 percent), blacks (81 percent) and Hispanics (59 percent).

West Virginia had the lowest proportion of college graduates, at 15 percent. It was followed at the bottom by Arkansas, Kentucky and Louisiana.

It also said:

Nearly 47 percent of adults in Washington, D.C., had at least a bachelor's degree.

Big deal! Did the survey exclude all those Senators and Representatives living there? Otherwise, it would be like bragging how many foreign nationals are present in the UN Assembly compared to the rest of the other states.

Thirteen Things about Serendipity
One of the greatest gift my mother ever gave me, aside from giving me life and giving me a good childhood, is the love of reading. It's one of the things I am thoroughly enjoying. I think life is much richer because of reading.

Here's thirteen quotes about reading. Feel free to agree and disagree.

1. Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.

I've enjoyed reading books I'll never re-read. I disagree with Mr. Wilde here. Here's a few book that's enjoyable, but I probably won't re-read. Wally Lamb - SHE'S COME UNDONE, Kristin Hannah - BETWEEN FRIENDS, Mark Haddon - THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

2. Dr. Seuss (American Writer and Cartoonist best known for his collection of children's books. 1904-1991)

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.

I'm with you Dr. Seuss!
Books: Arthur Golden Memoirs of a Geisha
Jung Chang WILD SWANS

3. C.S. Lewis quotes (British Scholar and Novelist. 1898-1963)

We read to know we are not alone.

It sounds dramatic, but there are moments in my life, way back when I was a teen, which I could almost be sure that without a book, I'd surely be a most mi

4. Marcus Tullius Cicero (Ancient Roman Lawyer, Writer, Scholar, Orator and Statesman, 106 BC-43 BC) A

home without books is a body without soul.

Well, this is a little harsh. Didn't this person meet a very poor person before? So poor that as much as they love to have books, they have to buy food instead?

5. Aldous Huxley (English Novelist and Critic, 1894-1963)

Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting.

Witness all the self-help books available...and how some of them actually help some people.

6. Lily Tomlin (American Actress and Comedian. Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2003.b.1939)

If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well viewed.

Not well-viewed, but certainly well-entertained! I love my House, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Scrubs, CSI and other things I use to help me occupy when I don't feel like doing anything!

7. Elizabeth Hardwick ( 1916–, American literary critic, novelist, and short-story writer, b. Lexington, Ky.; grad Univ. of Kentucky (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939).

The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.

Enough said. Well, except for the "cheap" part, as if you're of a slightly obsessive personality, a whole series of romantic fiction which I am addicted to, can be upwards of 100 bucks.

8. P. J. O'Rourke (American political commentator,Journalist, Writer and Humorist, b.1947)

“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.”

This is like being told to wear underwear without tears because in case you get into an accident and someone sees your undies. I bet you've heard that one before too.

9. Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher, 1788-1860)

Reading is thinking with someone else's head instead of one's own

So, is that bad? Or is it just eavesdropping?

10. E. M. Forster (English Novelist and Essayist, 1879-1970)

What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote.

Hmm, very profound huh?

11. Thomas Carlyle (Scottish Historian and Essayist, leading figure in the Victorian era. 1795-1881)

What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us

Oh boy, what will ever happened to Sci-fi, erotic fiction, and murder mystery fans?

12. Joseph Addison (English Essayist, Poet, Dramatist and Statesman, 1672-1719)

Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.

I agree!

13. Enrique Jardiel Poncela quotes (Spanish writer, 1901-1952)

When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.

Oh yes! Yes! I hate having to work overtime when settling down with a book.

Poll

Thursday Thirteen Vol. 5

Who's got the MOST Impressive Turn?

Incentive to Get a College Degree

Thursday Thirteen Vol. 4

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