Sunday, November 29, 2009
Daily Dose
From The Best American Essays,: 1997, edited by Ian FrazierGRATEFUL
"I am grateful to the accidents of my displaced upbringing, which taught me several kinds of irony."
From Luc Sante's essay, Living in Tongues
Labels:
Daily Dose,
Essays,
Ian Frazier,
Luc Sante,
Quotations
Saturday, November 28, 2009
A Selection from Clerihews Complete
Four clerihews, by their originator, E. Clerihew Bentley. The poet's middle name, by the way, came first, so to say, as the clerihew takes its name from him, not the other way 'round. But I'll let the Preface to his Clerihews Complete explain it better:
When first it dawned on mankind
"Biography for Beginners" was signed
(For reasons with which I will not weary you)
With the name E. Clerihew.
I am not without a claim
To the use of that honorable name,
Which those who happened to be listening
Heard bestowed on me at my christening.
But (for reasons which would only bore you)
The name on the collection before you
Has been changed -- I hope not detrimentally
-- To E. Clerihew Bentley.
There now, that's clear, isn't it?
When first it dawned on mankind
"Biography for Beginners" was signed
(For reasons with which I will not weary you)
With the name E. Clerihew.
I am not without a claim
To the use of that honorable name,
Which those who happened to be listening
Heard bestowed on me at my christening.
But (for reasons which would only bore you)
The name on the collection before you
Has been changed -- I hope not detrimentally
-- To E. Clerihew Bentley.
There now, that's clear, isn't it?
Labels:
clerihews,
E. C. Bentley,
minor poets,
poetry,
reading aloud,
videos
Daily Dose
From Choice Selections from the Writings of John RuskinCURRENT COIN
"Knowledge is the current coin. A man may have some right to be proud of possessing it, if he has worked for the gold of it, and assayed it, and stamped it, so that it may be received of all men as true; or earned it fairly, being already assayed: but if he has done none of these things, but only had it thrown in his face by a passer-by, what cause has he to be proud?"
From the section, "Ethical"
Labels:
Daily Dose,
John Ruskin,
philosophy,
Quotations
Friday, November 27, 2009
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