Tuesday, October 31, 2006
2 days left. Somebody shoot me please.
Currently I'm submerging myself in lots of news and recent events and what-nots, because I'm really afraid that I won't have enough content for GP. It's so frustrating!!!
Anyway, in the notes and all, I've come across some quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Is this name familiar to you? It sure is to me. I keep reading quotes that he sprouted, yet I have no idea who the man is.
So my first instinct was to
Google it out. So many pages available, where to begin? Then it reminded me of this article (what else?) I read yesterday, about Google. And so it hit me that I'm part of this Google generation. What's to happen to my shelf of encyclopaedias?
Hence I closed the window, and refered to the big book instead. The result is pretty satisfactory. From
THE NEW BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE:
"Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) was among America's foremost poets and essayists. He was born May 25, 1803, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, William Emerson, was a Unitarian clergyman and a stern but kindly man."
And that was the first paragraph. Now for the last:
"Emerson was a great essayist, idealist, and poet. Some of his best writing and most original thinking appear in his
Journals, which were published in 10 volumes between 1909 and 1914. They provide the best biography of Emerson."
Ta-daa. There's even one of his poems in the book:
The Concord HymnBy the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the enbattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Beautiful but depressing war poem. Back to the quotations, here are some that I like:
"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."
"Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect." (I got a very Matrix-feel to this. Did they quote him on this one?)
"The ancestor of every action is a thought."
"The only way to have a friend is to be one."
"We do what we must, and call it by the best names."
"Every artist was first an amateur."
"Every hero becomes a bore at last." (This was also quoted in the movie "Le Divorce".)
And my favourite:
"All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."
And finally, a really funny one:
"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
The man who hated quotations is probably one of the most quoted people right now. Whoa, some great irony going on in this world, but that's life.
♥ The lights faded at
12:12 am
