Moon and Stars

The Moon and stars have always represented something for which to reach - a level of achievement not easily attainable but worth the effort, and one doesn't have to be an astrologer or astronomer or astronaut to appreciate this:


"Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars"
(last line in the film "Now Voyager" - Bette Davis and Paul Henreid)

James Thurber's fable "The Moth and the Star". A story of a little moth who, against advice from his peers insisted on attempting to reach the light of the moon rather than that from a street lamp or candle. He had the last mothy laugh though - his peers were fried, while he lived to a ripe old age - didn't reach the moon but had fun trying.
James Thurber's moral to this tale: "Who flies afar from the sphere of our sorrow is here today and here tomorrow."

"His gaze wandered from the windows to the stars, as if he would have read in them something that was hidden from him. Many of us would, if we could; but none of us so much as know our letters in the stars yet - or seem likely to do it, in this state of existence - and few languages can be read until their alphabets are mastered." {Ain't that the truth!}
(Charles Dickens - the Mystery of Edwin Drood)

Even a fool knows you can't touch the stars, but it doesn't stop a wise man from trying. (Harry Anderson)

When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either. (Leo Burnett)

Shoot for the moon - if you miss you'll end up in the stars. (Artie Shaw)

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.

(Harriet Tubman)

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. (Oscar Wilde)

AND some salutory warnings ( someone always has to spoil it!)

A man gazing on the stars is proverbially at the mercy of the puddles in the road. (Alexander Smith)

Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars but remember to keep your feet on the ground (Theodore Roosevelt)

Stargazer, you with your head in the heavens,

You'll never get by walkin' that high off the ground.

Moon dreamer, I've been around and I've seen it;

The higher you get--the harder they let you down.

(Neil Diamond "Stargazer" lyrics)