Tag: quotes

“the one charge you cannot deny”

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160 years ago this week, Richard Harding Davis was born. He became an American war correspondent for over three significant wars in his lifetime, also writing short stories and championing Theodore Roosevelt's campaign for the United States presidency. I stumbled upon his work accidentally, finding a copy of Once Upon a Time in a thrift… Continue reading “the one charge you cannot deny”

“rode madly off in all directions”

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On this day, March 28, in 1944, Stephen Leacock, humorist and professor of Political Economics at McGill, died. One day last summer, I was possessed of the need to determine where the phrase “he rode off in all directions” originated. A quick Google search introduced me to Stephen Leacock, writer and economist of the last… Continue reading “rode madly off in all directions”

“being what he was”

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136 years ago this week, author Louisa May Alcott died. Born November 29, 1832, Alcott wrote the beloved Little Women, sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys, as well as numerous other novels and short stories. Among these, a dramatic Faustian tale titled A Modern Mephistopheles, which was her inspiration for another book with similar themes,… Continue reading “being what he was”

‘Meshes of the web of destiny’

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I find myself checked constantly by thoughts of "but what about so-and-so? wouldn't they have something to say about it? what about my responsibilities?" These considerations are my "fetters of duty" and and "regulations of honour."

‘Absent from everything most densely real’

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Recently, I recognized a pattern of thought and behaviour in myself: I am long past mentally finished with a position or situation in life by the time I actually change it. I'm currently in that mental space of being prepared to be somewhere else, while still showing up where I'm currently committed to. I can… Continue reading ‘Absent from everything most densely real’

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Blog (and Life) Update

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Lately, I have not been feeling A-OK. I have not even been feeling just "OK," nevermind the "A" part. "Fine" as a back-up term is usually fittingly nondescript and noncommital but even it has not been able to save me this week. Also, I ran out of coffee on Monday. Not saying I was suffering… Continue reading The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Blog (and Life) Update

‘A feminist: (masculinely)…’

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I did, once upon a time, read Ulysses by James Joyce. And I did, once upon a Mediterranean cruise, enjoy parts of it along with some quotes I saved. Seeings it is Bloomsday, June 16, the singular day on which all 265,000 words and 18 episodes of the novel canonically take place, I can hardly… Continue reading ‘A feminist: (masculinely)…’

The Tenth Day of Christmas: Notes from Underground

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Even then I already carried the underground in my soul.Notes from Underground I don’t really know what to say about Notes from Underground. I’ve read it twice now. It was my first taste of the great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky and it made me want to read more by him. Although it is in translation,… Continue reading The Tenth Day of Christmas: Notes from Underground

‘Enough courage to take chances’

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A man's courage is like a horse that refuses a fence; you have to take him by the head and cram him at it again. If you don't, he will funk worse next time. I hadn't enough courage to be able to take chances with it, though I was afraid of many things, the thing… Continue reading ‘Enough courage to take chances’