Comments (0)

By madpoet, June 14, 2011 11:23 pm

When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Okay. I will totally admit right now, I have no idea what Emerson is talking about here. Along with each of these little blurbs from Emerson comes a suggested question or thrust for the blog post. I typically ignore it. The one that’s attached to this one talks about taking alternative paths – being open to the possibility of new opportunities. And I can appreciate the need to be open to alternatives. Case in point… I got my first critique at the local writers’ group tonight.

Comments (0)

By madpoet, June 14, 2011 12:03 am

These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quiet time is something that’s really important to me, but it seems to be in particularly short supply – especially when I’m at home. There’s five people in the house, the tv in the front room is always on, someone is usually on one of the computers in the office, and so on and so forth. And it never fails – just as I want to sit down and write something, someone comes in and turns on a tv. The one in the front room is always on (My Sweet Honey’s grandpa has permanently installed himself on the couch there, and watches a LOT of the Lifetime Movie Network. Or the History Channel, which wouldn’t be so bad if they showed something that involved a little… I dunno… history? When did the History Channel get so interested in Nostradamus and Alien Astronauts being responsible for everything from the pyramids to the Exodus story?)

Comments (2)

By zach, June 11, 2011 3:31 pm

Let’s get into it.

Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

But in order to not imitate, one might say, one has to find out who one really is. Right? I think a lot of people think that, and it’s something that I used to subscribe to m’self. Lately, I’ve been thinking it’s really not the case. Yes, there is work that is your calling to perform, that you alone can do, that is Your Work.

Comments (0)

By madpoet, June 3, 2011 10:19 pm

Thought I wouldn’t get this in, didn’t you?

Yeah. Me too.

Here’s the quote:

That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? . . . Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much. – Ralph Waldo Emerson