Marginalia

Quotes and marginalia from books, essays and articles I'm reading.

[lemarginalia]

“When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as “rootless and stemless.” We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed. When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don’t condemn it as immature and underdeveloped; nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development. The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change; yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.”

—Timothy Gallwey

[lemarginalia]

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.

Alice Walker

[lemarginalia]

One of the big wishes of human kind is to transform things, to work on things to construct, to destroy, to sometimes construct again... And cinema is about showing things that are changing.

The Dardennes

[lemarginalia]

“And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.”

Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

[lemarginalia]

Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old; seek what they sought.

Matsuo Basho

[lemarginalia]

The relationship people have with poems is much closer to the relationship they have with other people. Like people, poems don’t have inner cores that permit perfect understanding, meaning they are the sum of thousands of impressions, some weightier than others, but none weightless. Yes, your mother knows you well. But there are things about you that someone who has just met you will immediately register that your mother is unaware of, in part because she’s your mother.

David Orr, Points of Entry (link)

[lemarginalia]

I wish to be taken for granted Like the wind that you breathe Like the sunlight on your face Like the ground at your feet Like the water that you drink. I wish to be taken for granted Like birdsong lofted by the breeze Like wood on fire for your comfort Like the grass greening the field Like the silent swan afloat on the pond I wish to be taken for granted Like the workers in the factories Like the tillers in the farms Like those who dwell in schools Like those who recreate the world. I wish to be taken for granted But I shall smile with satisfaction If some people sometimes remember That I did what I could in my time To add to what is now commonplace. One new generation after another Shall create new ideas and new things To surpass the feats of the past There are no limits but the sky, The sun, the earth and the waters.

I Wish to Be Taken for Granted By Jose Maria Sison

[lemarginalia]

Find something you're passionate about and stay tremendously interested in it.

Julia Child

[lemarginalia]

The useless days will add up to something. The shitty waitressing jobs. The hours writing in your journal. The long meandering walks. The hours reading poetry and story collections and novels and dead people's diaries and wondering about sex and God and whether you should shave under your arms or not. These things are your becoming.

Cheryl Strayed

[ceeeej-blog]

I had a spontaneous urge to turn everything that happened to me into a story. I used to talk freely and loved to write. If I was describing in words an episode in my life, I felt that it was being rescued from oblivion, that it would interest others, and so be saved from extinction. I loved to make up stories, too. When they were inspired by my own experience, they seemed to justify it; in one sense they were of no use at all, but they were unique and irreplaceable, they existed and I was proud of having snatched them from nothingness.

Simone de Beauvoir, Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (via ceeeej)

[lemarginalia]

I had to touch you with my hands, I had to taste you with my tongue; one can’t love and do nothing.

Graham Greene

[lemarginalia]

You never conquer the mountain, You only conquer yourself.

Jim Whitaker

[lemarginalia]

To achieve perfection in writing while retaining naturalness it was important to write a great deal, to write fluently, as the pianist practices the piano, rather than to correct constantly one page until it withers. To write continuously, to try over and over again to capture a certain mood, a certain experience. Intensive correcting may lead to monotony, to working on dead matter, whereas continuing to write and to write until perfection is achieved through repetition is a way to elude this monotony, to avoid performing an autopsy. Sheer playing of scales, practice, repetition — then by the time one is ready to write a story or a novel a great deal of natural distillation and softing has been accomplished.

Anais Nin

[lemarginalia]

“What day is it?” “It’s today,” squeaked Piglet. “My favorite day,” said Pooh.

[lemarginalia]

Each day of life is an unrepeatable chord of a music that laughs at death.

Eduardo Galeano

[lemarginalia]

What I really like to do best is whatever I’m not doing at the moment.

Woody Allen

[lemarginalia]

The moon does not fight. It attacks no one. It does not worry. It does not try to crush others. It keeps to its course, but by its very nature, it gently influences. What other body could pull an entire ocean from shore to shore? The moon is faithful to its nature and its power is never diminished.

Deng Ming-Dao