“Sadly it is not only the force of gravity we get used to as we grow up. The world itself becomes a habit in no time at all. It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world. And in doing so, we lose something central—something…
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald Who says beginnings should be saved for New Year’s or spring? Every day offers the same opportunity for transformation. Aside from seasonal planting and certain outdoor sports, a crisp autumn day seems just as appropriate a time to change…
“How terribly sad it was that people are made in such a way that they get used to something as extraordinary as living.” ― Jostein Gaarder, The Solitaire Mystery When we think back on our days, how many are frosted with magic and delight? The very definition of ordinary points to the relative sameness in…
“Our life is also what we have not dared to do … what escaped us.” — Javier Marias Javier Marias passed away on September 11th, triggering a series of tributes to a productive literary life. This quote stood out for me, for all the reasons you might expect from this particular blogger. If there’s a…
“Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.” — Hannah Arendt There’s an art to telling stories. You see it masterfully displayed in the work of certain authors and public speakers. Everyone knows a great story when they hear it, but many don’t understand the craft of actually creating something that becomes compelling….
“Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.” — André Gide There are a lot of earnest, hardworking people in the world, seeking a better future for themselves and others. And there are a smaller, though seemingly just as many, buzzing cluster of charlatans and false prophets telling all who will…
“Maybe everyone can live beyond what they’re capable of.” – Markus Zusak I spoke with a gentleman at a cash register while I was purchasing a new shirt. I was the only customer in the store, he was eager to talk to someone and I had the time to give. We spoke of the future,…
“There is nothing quite so useless, as doing with great efficiency, something that should not be done at all.” — Peter Drucker “You seem to spend a lot of time worrying if you will survive, and you will probably survive…. It’s the wrong question! The question is how to be useful.” — Peter Drucker to…
“Do not do what someone else could do as well as you. Do not say, do not write what someone else could say, could write as well as you. Care for nothing in yourself but what you feel exists nowhere else. And, out of yourself create, impatiently or patiently, the most irreplaceable of beings.” —…
“One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore.” — André Gide The truth is, we each concede more than we consent. The truth is, discovery is a shore too far for many of us. And yet we each set sail in our own way from…
