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Thursday, April 20, 2017

Q is for Quotes


“He wrapped himself in quotations -
 as a beggar would enfold himself 
in the purple of Emperors.”
- Rudyard Kipling 

WHY ARE WE DRAWN TO
QUOTES?

My best friend, Sandra, is still battling cancer.

Reading a volume of quotations is perfect for her as her mind struggles with the pain and medication.

A quote is short enough to grasp, yet often insightful enough to provide her food for diverting thought.

No one quote is read and digested the same way by different readers.

Every reader, as she or he reads, is actually the reader of herself.

The writer's work is only a kind of mental lens he provides the reader 

so he or she can discern what she might never have seen in herself without the book. 

The reader's recognition in himself of what the book says is the proof of the book's or quote's truth. 

Take Ophelia in Hamlet:

"We know what we are but not what we may be."

What does that say to you?

  
Or listen to Emily Dickinson:

"The brain is wider than the sky."

In our minds we can travel instantly to anywhere in the universe without boarding the Enterprise.


Speaking from experience, Einstein wrote:

"Great spirits have often overcome 
the opposition of mediocre minds."

What helps you keep true to your vision in the face of opposition? 


Decades before Einstein, Abraham Lincoln wrote:

"I am not bound to succeed, 
but I am bound to live up 
to what light I have."
 
Do you agree?  Why?  Why not? 


Mark Twain echoed those thoughts with his:

"The two greatest days of your life are the day you were born -- 
and the day you discover why."


Thousands of years earlier, Heraclitus wrote:

"Much learning does not teach understanding."


Do you have any 
favorite quotes?  

What are they? 

5 comments:

  1. Hi Roland - my thoughts for Sandra - and I'm happy to read she can get some solace from your quotations and where they let her wander. Off the top of my head - I'm quoteless ... that's a great quotation by Kipling - one I hadn't read before ...

    I'm sure I'm not quoteless - as my brain keeps me actively engaged with the world around me ... helping my mother and uncle through their last years - they enjoyed interesting snippets to hear read ...

    Cheers and with thoughts to all who are suffering - Hilary

    http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/q-is-for-quirky-quizzy-facts-and-quaggas.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandra is a fighter, still punching and holding her own.

      I stumbled upon that Kipling quote researching this post actually. :-)

      Delete
  2. Great selection here. Somehow, a universally powerful quote lets the reader take it in whatever way they like, based on what is going on in their life. I guess that's why they endure.

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  3. Woody Allen is absolutely correct.

    I will pray for Sandra. I promise.

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