Little things

 

Little things

Little things please little minds, so it is said. In fact, Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) wrote it around 2 AD in ‘Ars Amatoria’, a collection of 57 poems in three volumes. In the first two volumes, intended as advice to men, Ovid advised ‘not forgetting her birthday’ and ‘not asking about her age’. The third volume sought to advise women on how to gain and keep the love of a man. Oh, if only I had studied Latin . . . (Still, I didn't do too badly!)

‘Parva leves capiunt animos’ is translated as ‘small things enthral light minds’ and has been repeated by the great and the good, the simple and the foolish ever since. In 1576 George Pettie rendered it, ‘a little thing pleaseth a foole’ while John Lyly in 1584 wrote, ‘Little things catch light mindes’. In 1845 Disraeli said, ‘Little things affect little minds’ while in 1963 Doris Lessing wrote ‘Small things amuse small minds’. Finally, the Galt toy catalogue of 1973 printed ‘Little things please little minds’ and that, I suppose, settled it!

That was a rabbit hole I had not planned to travel through when I started writing this post. That’s the trouble, you see – no focus!

The little thing that is pleasing me at present is a Kikkerland nail brush in the form of a whale. I am so pleased with it that it will not be employed for any other purpose than to make me smile every time I see it. 

                                             Look at the grain!

It is handmade from beechwood and wears a light smile. The grain is attractive and I wonder if it would be enhanced by an application of linseed oil.

                     Seen from above - '♪ Me and my shadow . . . '

                 Here you can clearly see this cheery cetacean's smile

I cannot say that I am entering my second childhood. Something (many things) tell me I never departed my first!