There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can't fix it you've got to stand it.
~Annie Proulx, Close Range, "Brokeback Mountain"
Showing posts with label quotes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quotes. Show all posts
9.12.2014
Subtext to every request to be CC'd
From a friend's experience with her consultant:
"When you send the brief to the client, can you CC me . . . so I can see how you twist my words?"
"When you send the brief to the client, can you CC me . . . so I can see how you twist my words?"
11.19.2013
Slow Dancing
Going through old papers buried in my mom's house today. Found this quote:
"What if more of life could be like that? Like the last slow dance, where, to echo T.S. Eliot, a lifetime burns in every moment."
~Alice Steinbach
"What if more of life could be like that? Like the last slow dance, where, to echo T.S. Eliot, a lifetime burns in every moment."
~Alice Steinbach
9.21.2012
The World to Which I Belong
"you must learn one thing,
the world was made to be free in.
give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
sometimes it takes darkness
and the sweet confinement of your
aloneness to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you."
from "Sweet Darkness" by David Whyte
Today, I am thankful. Today I am starting to believe and live these words.
Living freely in the world to which I belong.
1.04.2012
Marriage Baggage
A quote from Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow:
After almost twenty years of sleeping with Barbara, I no longer went to bed with only her. I lay down with five thousand other fucks; with the recollection of younger bodies; with the worries for the million things that supported and surrounded our life: the corroding rain gutters, Nat's unwillingness to study mathematics, the way Raymond, over the years, had come to greet my work with an eye its defects rather than successes, the particular arrogant glint that came into my mother-in-law's eye when she discussed any person outside her immediate family, including me. In our bed, I reached for Barbara through the spectral intervention of all these visitors, all that time.
11.25.2010
A Book About Memories: Year of Fog
Just finished another Michelle Richmond book, The Year of Fog. It talks a lot about memory, both very technical aspects and some of the softer sides. Some quotes I liked:
"That's the great thing about kids. I mean, when was the last time you were so excited about something you actually wet your pants?"
~~~
Requoted from Walker Percy's Moviegoer:
"To become aware of the possibility of a search is to be onto something. Not to be onto something is to be in despair."
"That's the great thing about kids. I mean, when was the last time you were so excited about something you actually wet your pants?"
~~~
Requoted from Walker Percy's Moviegoer:
"To become aware of the possibility of a search is to be onto something. Not to be onto something is to be in despair."
11.21.2010
Stuff from Books: No One You Know
Just finished reading Michelle Richmond's No One You Know. Quick read, suspenseful and moving, and filled with a few great quotes. Here are some I like:
A requote from Graham Greene's The End of the Affair: A story has no beginning or end, arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.
~~~
Every story is an invention, subject to the whims of the author. For the audience on the other side of the page, the words march forward with a certain inevitability--as if the story could exist one way only, the way in which it is written. But there is never just one way to tell a story. Someone has chosen who will emerge as the hero or heroine, and who will play the villain. Each choice is made at the expense of an infinite number of variations. Who is to say which version of the story is true?
~~~
Sunrise had a way of putting an end to intimacy; the vulnerabilities men displayed in the middle of the night seemed to disappear with the moon and stars.
~~~
The seed of every relationship's demise is always apparent, even from the very first moment. If you look closely at the beginning, you will always be able to see the end.
~~~
It's just a story. You can take it or leave it. Stories aren't set in stone.
~~~
There is no such thing as a perfect ending, no such thing as an infallible narrative map. Arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. Every story is flawed, every story is subject to change. Even after it is set down in print, between the covers a book, a story is not immune to alteration. People can go on telling it in their own way, remembering it the way they want. And in each telling the ending may change, or even the beginning. Inevitably, in some cases it will be worse, and in others it just might be better. A story, after all, does not only belong to the one who is telling it. It belongs, in equal measure, to the one who is listening.
A requote from Graham Greene's The End of the Affair: A story has no beginning or end, arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.
~~~
Every story is an invention, subject to the whims of the author. For the audience on the other side of the page, the words march forward with a certain inevitability--as if the story could exist one way only, the way in which it is written. But there is never just one way to tell a story. Someone has chosen who will emerge as the hero or heroine, and who will play the villain. Each choice is made at the expense of an infinite number of variations. Who is to say which version of the story is true?
~~~
Sunrise had a way of putting an end to intimacy; the vulnerabilities men displayed in the middle of the night seemed to disappear with the moon and stars.
~~~
The seed of every relationship's demise is always apparent, even from the very first moment. If you look closely at the beginning, you will always be able to see the end.
~~~
It's just a story. You can take it or leave it. Stories aren't set in stone.
~~~
There is no such thing as a perfect ending, no such thing as an infallible narrative map. Arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. Every story is flawed, every story is subject to change. Even after it is set down in print, between the covers a book, a story is not immune to alteration. People can go on telling it in their own way, remembering it the way they want. And in each telling the ending may change, or even the beginning. Inevitably, in some cases it will be worse, and in others it just might be better. A story, after all, does not only belong to the one who is telling it. It belongs, in equal measure, to the one who is listening.
10.10.2010
Wisdom from Reader's Digest
My wonderful mother gifts me with a subscription to Reader's Digest every year. As silly as it may seem, I actually really enjoy it. As a kid, RD was one of those things that came in the mail that was actually interesting to me. Finding that little thick rectangle in a stack of bills was always a reward for fetching the mail. So I read it. Still.
A quote from a recent issue I just had to share:
"The only reason to be in a long-term relationship with another adult is to have someone to laugh with. That's it. Because you can always hire someone to put in windows."
A quote from a recent issue I just had to share:
"The only reason to be in a long-term relationship with another adult is to have someone to laugh with. That's it. Because you can always hire someone to put in windows."
9.04.2010
Feeling the Pam Houston Tonight
Just needed to get lost in my favorite female author for awhile. Thought I'd share some of the quotes that spoke to me. (I've posted some of these long ago here.)
"I wanted her to see that the only life worth living is a life full of love; that loss is always part of the equation; that love and loss conjoined are the best opportunity we get to live fully, to be our strongest, our most compassionate, our most graceful selves. "
"Life gives us what we need when we need it; receiving what it gives us is a whole other thing."
"The more important question, of course, was what the new Lucy would do, and even though I was pretty sure the old Lucy wouldn't be around much anymore, I was a little bit afraid the new Lucy hadn't yet shown up."
"The Universe has a plan to make sure we don't ever stop learning, not only in our minds, but also in our hearts."
"She's felt so bad for so long she don't know good when it's bubbling right out of her. And even when she catches up to it, she's waiting for whatever bad thing is about to happen next."
"If I had a daughter, I would tell her what a funny thing love is, how it never looks the way you think it's going to, how no matter how old you get, it is love that keeps surprising you. How in the songs sometimes it involves beaches and champagne and chocolate-covered roses, but in real life it is just a prematurely balding man standing in a drought-dried field telling you that he loves you, and that you should do whatever on earth you want."
"She wasted so much time trying to act perfectly, trying to guard against the loss, always fearful of making the mistake that would lead to it."
"I thought about all the years I'd spent saying love and freedom were mutually exclusive and living my life as though they were exactly the same thing."
"In every assumption is contained the possibility of its opposite."
"You wonder why there's no word for the opposite of lonely. You wonder if there's a difference between whatever might be truth and a performance that isn't a lie. In your life right now, you can't find one."
"I wanted her to see that the only life worth living is a life full of love; that loss is always part of the equation; that love and loss conjoined are the best opportunity we get to live fully, to be our strongest, our most compassionate, our most graceful selves. "
"Life gives us what we need when we need it; receiving what it gives us is a whole other thing."
"The more important question, of course, was what the new Lucy would do, and even though I was pretty sure the old Lucy wouldn't be around much anymore, I was a little bit afraid the new Lucy hadn't yet shown up."
"The Universe has a plan to make sure we don't ever stop learning, not only in our minds, but also in our hearts."
"She's felt so bad for so long she don't know good when it's bubbling right out of her. And even when she catches up to it, she's waiting for whatever bad thing is about to happen next."
"If I had a daughter, I would tell her what a funny thing love is, how it never looks the way you think it's going to, how no matter how old you get, it is love that keeps surprising you. How in the songs sometimes it involves beaches and champagne and chocolate-covered roses, but in real life it is just a prematurely balding man standing in a drought-dried field telling you that he loves you, and that you should do whatever on earth you want."
"She wasted so much time trying to act perfectly, trying to guard against the loss, always fearful of making the mistake that would lead to it."
"I thought about all the years I'd spent saying love and freedom were mutually exclusive and living my life as though they were exactly the same thing."
"In every assumption is contained the possibility of its opposite."
"You wonder why there's no word for the opposite of lonely. You wonder if there's a difference between whatever might be truth and a performance that isn't a lie. In your life right now, you can't find one."
4.18.2010
Embrace the Good
"It's not fate versus free will. It's fate and free will."
"Every day God puts something good in your life. Embrace it. And let all the other stuff fall away."
~Crazy wise religious guy on Flash Forward
"Every day God puts something good in your life. Embrace it. And let all the other stuff fall away."
~Crazy wise religious guy on Flash Forward
2.10.2010
Good Mothering
Overheard in SF:
"If he can't figure out the public transportation system, well ... I don't want you dating him."
(Mother to teenage girl, overheard at San Francisco General Hospital)
There's more where that came from on SFGate.com.
"If he can't figure out the public transportation system, well ... I don't want you dating him."
(Mother to teenage girl, overheard at San Francisco General Hospital)
There's more where that came from on SFGate.com.
9.25.2008
Some Are Useful
I hate campaign season. Everything is fake. It's terrible. Really truly horribly icky. Blah.
My economics professor has a saying that he repeatedly uses:
"All models are flawed; some are useful."
I'd like to extrapolate a bit and apply it to our current situation:
All politicians are flawed (replace with: assholes, morons, or whatever fits your need); some are useful.
My economics professor has a saying that he repeatedly uses:
"All models are flawed; some are useful."
I'd like to extrapolate a bit and apply it to our current situation:
All politicians are flawed (replace with: assholes, morons, or whatever fits your need); some are useful.
8.07.2007
I'm thinking of Wine today
Wine is the first weapon that devils use in attacking the young
St. Jerome
Drink wine, and you will sleep well. Sleep, and you will not sin. Avoid sin, and you will be saved. Ergo, drink wine and be saved.
Medieval German saying
5.04.2007
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
I'm reading Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the first time. I've been completely enraptured by this book, and it's been a very long time since this has happened. There's no suspense, no mystery, no greaat big plot to finish. So why can't I put it down?
Betty Smith writes so beautifully about characters that you can't help but identify with them. But still, I'm constantly urged to move forward in the book...why?
The beautiful storytelling offers a world of horrible poverty, but with a small dose of hope. I read it so voraciously because I am taking in that hope. The hope is certainly better than the actually obtaining of anything...and I'm enjoying every second of it.
I STRONGLY recommend the read.
One of my favorite passages so far:
A mother speaks to her daughter, who has just given birth. The daughter is concerned about how she will bring up good children. The mother tells her daughter to teach them of God, and Jesus, and Santa Claus. The daughter asks why she should lie to her children about Santa Claus, when she knows he does not exist.
"Because, " [the mother explained], "the child must have a valuable thing which is called imagination. The child must have a secret world in which live things that never were. It is necessary that she believe. She must start out by believing in things not of this world. Then when the world becomes too ugly for living in, the child can reach back and live in her imagination..."
"The child will grow up and find out things for herself. She will know that I have lied. She will be disappointed."
"That is what is called learning the truth. It is a good thing to learn the truth one's self. To first believe with all your heart, and then not to believe, is good too. It fattens the emotions and makes them to stretch. When as a woman life and people disappoint her, she will have had practice in disappointment and it will not come so hard. In teaching your child, do not forget that suffering is good too. It makes a person rich in character."
Betty Smith writes so beautifully about characters that you can't help but identify with them. But still, I'm constantly urged to move forward in the book...why?
The beautiful storytelling offers a world of horrible poverty, but with a small dose of hope. I read it so voraciously because I am taking in that hope. The hope is certainly better than the actually obtaining of anything...and I'm enjoying every second of it.
I STRONGLY recommend the read.
One of my favorite passages so far:
A mother speaks to her daughter, who has just given birth. The daughter is concerned about how she will bring up good children. The mother tells her daughter to teach them of God, and Jesus, and Santa Claus. The daughter asks why she should lie to her children about Santa Claus, when she knows he does not exist.
"Because, " [the mother explained], "the child must have a valuable thing which is called imagination. The child must have a secret world in which live things that never were. It is necessary that she believe. She must start out by believing in things not of this world. Then when the world becomes too ugly for living in, the child can reach back and live in her imagination..."
"The child will grow up and find out things for herself. She will know that I have lied. She will be disappointed."
"That is what is called learning the truth. It is a good thing to learn the truth one's self. To first believe with all your heart, and then not to believe, is good too. It fattens the emotions and makes them to stretch. When as a woman life and people disappoint her, she will have had practice in disappointment and it will not come so hard. In teaching your child, do not forget that suffering is good too. It makes a person rich in character."
1.10.2007
Life of Pi
I don't like castaway novels. (Ironic coming from someone who LOVES Lost.) I hated Robinson Crusoe. I have yet to read Moby Dick and no intentions of doing so. I never liked that Sole Survivor book. I'm just not a fan of reading about someone lost at sea and trying to make it back to civilization. Somehow, I find it boring.
Life of Pi is a castaway novel. The main character spends most of the book on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Life of Pi is different, though. Life of Pi is an amazing tribute to the beauty of life--stretching across science, religion, and art. This is an incredible story, not only of the will to survive, but of the minutae that represent the very basics of life.
I, as the avid reader who hates these kinds of books, LOVE this book. I couldn't put it down. No dullness, no waiting, no terrible desparation. This novel, full of suspense, operates under a veil of hope that shines through every page.
Please read this book.
Some of my favorite quotes:
Life of Pi is a castaway novel. The main character spends most of the book on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Life of Pi is different, though. Life of Pi is an amazing tribute to the beauty of life--stretching across science, religion, and art. This is an incredible story, not only of the will to survive, but of the minutae that represent the very basics of life.
I, as the avid reader who hates these kinds of books, LOVE this book. I couldn't put it down. No dullness, no waiting, no terrible desparation. This novel, full of suspense, operates under a veil of hope that shines through every page.
Please read this book.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams."
"All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive."
"...the Greater Good and the Greater Profit are not compatible aims..."
"Which is the better story?"
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