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Read through the most famous quotes by topic #inspiratio
Suffice it to say I was compelled to create this group in order to find everyone who is, let's say, borrowing liberally from my INESTIMABLE FOLIO OF CANONICAL MASTERPIECES (sorry, I just do that sometimes), and get you all together. It's the least I could do. I mean, seriously. Those soliloquies in Moby-Dick? Sooo Hamlet and/or Othello, with maybe a little Shylock thrown in. Everyone from Pip in Great Expectations to freakin' Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre mentions my plays, sometimes completely mangling my words in nineteenth-century middle-American dialect for humorous effect (thank you, Sir Clemens). Many people (cough Virginia Woolf cough) just quote me over and over again without attribution. I hear James Joyce even devoted a chapter of his giant novel to something called the "Hamlet theory," though do you have some sort of newfangled English? It looks like gobbledygook to me. The only people who don't seek me out are like Chaucer and Dante and those ancient Greeks. For whatever reason. And then there are the titles. The Sound and the Fury? Mine. Infinite Jest? Mine. Proust, Nabokov, Steinbeck, and Agatha Christie all have titles that are me-inspired. Brave New World? Not just the title, but half the plot has to do with my work. Even Edgar Allan Poe named a character after my Tempest's Prospero (though, not surprisingly, things didn't turn out well for him!). I'm like the star to every wandering bark, the arrow of every compass, the buzzard to every hawk and gillyflower ... oh, I don't even know what I'm talking about half the time. I just run with it, creating some of the SEMINAL TOURS DE FORCE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. You're welcome. ↗
Nowhere can I think so happily as in a train. I am not inspired; nothing so uncomfortable as that. I am never seized with a sudden idea for a masterpiece, nor form a sudden plan for some new enterprise. My thoughts are just pleasantly reflective. I think of all the good deeds I have done, and (when these give out) of all the good deeds I am going to do. I look out of the window and say lazily to myself, “How jolly to live there”; and a little farther on, “How jolly not to live there.” I see a cow, and I wonder what it is like to be a cow, and I wonder whether the cow wonders what it is to be like me; and perhaps, by this time, we have passed on to a sheep, and I wonder if it is more fun being a sheep. My mind wanders on in a way which would annoy Pelman a good deal, but it wanders on quite happily, and the “clankety-clank” of the train adds a very soothing accompaniment. So soothing, indeed, that at any moment I can close my eyes and pass into a pleasant state of sleep. ↗
Listen to them again: ‘I love you.’ Subject, verb, object: the unadorned, impregnable sentence. The subject is a short word, implying the self-effacement of the lover. The verb is longer but unambiguous, a demonstrative moment as the tongue flicks anxiously away from the palate to release the vowel. The object, like the subject, has no consonants, and is attained by pushing the lips forward as if for a kiss. ‘I love you.’ How serious, how weighted, how freighted it sounds. ↗
ការងារដែលផ្តើមចេញពីប្រយោជន៍ផ្ទាល់ខ្លួនមិនឆ្លើយតបជាមួយសេចក្តីត្រូវការរបស់មនុស្សឡើយ។ ការងារដែលផ្តើមពីបេះដូងសង្គ្រោះគឺចេញពីបេះ ដូង មិនមែនចេញពីខួរក្បាលនោះទេ។ ចូរអ្នកសួរបេះដូងអ្នកឲ្យបានច្បាស់ថាអ្នកពិតជាមានបេះដូងសង្រ្គោះពិត ឬយ៉ាងណា? ↗
មនុស្សល្អមានធាតុសំខាន់ប្រាំយ៉ាង គឺ (១) ស្គាល់អំពើល្អ (២) ដាំបណ្តុះអំពើល្អដាក់ក្នុងខ្លួន(៣) ប្រតិបត្តិអំពើល្អ (៤) ពង្រីកអំពើល្អ និង(៥) ការពារអំពើល្អ ↗
កុំធ្វើជាទីផ្គាប់ចិត្តរបស់បុគ្គលពាល។ ពាលគឺជាមនុស្សដែលផ្ទុយពីសប្បុរស សប្បុរសស្គាល់ហេតុនៃសេចក្តីវិនាស និងហេតុនៃសេចក្តីចំរើន ក្រោយពីដឹងថានេះជាហេតុនៃសេចក្តីវិនាសទំលាក់ចុះ ហើយងាកមកចាប់យកហេតុនៃសេចក្តីចំរើន, ស្គាល់ថាការងារនេះគួរធ្វើម្នាក់ឯង ឬការងារនេះត្រូវចូលរួមគ្នាធ្វើ រាល់ហេតុទាំងនេះវាផ្តើមចេញតាមរយៈការងាររបស់អ្នកមិនមែនតាមរយៈពាក្យសម្តីនោះទេ។ ↗
განა კითხვა უხილავის საკუთარი თვალით დანახვის ხელოვნება არ არის? განა კითხვის სილამაზე იმ სიჩუმეში არაა, შენ გარშემო რომ ისადგურებს, სანამ ამბავში მთლიანად ხარ ჩაძირული? განა ამ დროს შენში ავტორის ხმა არ იწყებს ჟღერას, რათა სხვა დანარჩენი ხმა და ხმაური გადაფაროს? ↗
To the followers of the murdered Caesar: Do you march against Decimus Brutus Albinus in Gaul, or against the son of Caesar in Rome? Ask Marcus Antonius. Are you mobilized to destroy the enemies of your dead leader, or to protect his assassins? Ask Marcus Antonius. Where is the will of the dead Caesar which bequeathed to every citizen of Rome three hundred pieces of silver coin? Ask Marcus Antonius. The murderers and conspirators against Caesar are free by an act of the Senate sanctioned by Marcus Antonius. The murderer Gaius Cassius Longinus has been given the governorship of Syria by Marcus Antonius. The murderer Marcus Junius Brutus has been given the governorship of Crete by Marcus Antonius. Where are the friends of the murdered Caesar among his enemies? The son of Caesar calls to you. ↗
You see, Momo,' he [Beppo Roadsweeper] told her one day, 'it's like this. Sometimes, when you've a very long street ahead of you, you think how terribly long it is and feel sure you'll never get it swept.' He gazed silently into space before continuing. 'And then you start to hurry,' he went on. 'You work faster and faster, and every time you look up there seems to be just as much left to sweep as before, and you try even harder, and you panic, and in the end you're out of breath and have to stop - and still the street stretches away in front of you. That's not the way to do it.' He pondered a while. Then he said, 'You must never think of the whole street at once, understand? You must only concentrate on the next step, the next breath, the next stroke of the broom, and the next, and the next. Nothing else.' Again he paused for thought before adding, 'That way you enjoy your work, which is important, because then you make a good job of it. And that's how it ought to be.' There was another long silence. At last he went on, 'And all at once, before you know it, you find you've swept the whole street clean, bit by bit. What's more, you aren't out of breath.' He nodded to himself. 'That's important, too,' he concluded. ↗
