A quote

I'm always amazed when people say, "You know, if I had to live my life over again, I'd do it all the same."

And that was Hitler talking.

I'm one of those people (God, I hope there are others anyway) who feels embarrassed by 95% of everything I've ever said, done, thought or felt. I feel abiding, oppressive shame and just about every memory I have comes burdened with remorse of some kind. And I'm not only talking my years of drinking and taking drugs. I mean my sober years, too. Now as well. I'll likely regret this post. I hate confessions.

But there they are on the tube, people doing riffs "I'd do it all the same again." I watch them with great envy and just a bit of disbelief. Really? The whole thing the same way? And maybe it's true.

I bring this up for a simple reason. Today I came across a line from an unidentified British poet who wrote in the period just after John Milton. Now this dude knew what he was talking about: "Above all gifts give me the ability to relive my life so that I might expunge the errors and calamities that afflicted it."

I'm waiting for his appearance on Oprah.