Friday, June 12, 2009

Words...Thought Provoking, Inspirational

My home page is set to iGoogle and one of the gadgets set up there gives me 4 new quotations a day. I love a good quote. Some are silly, but occasionally they are inspirational and thought provoking. One of yesterdays gems was by Henry David Thoreau..."How vain is it to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live".

In my last writing class, the instructor noted that when he wrote his novel he kept a notebook with him at all times. On the inside cover was an inspirational saying. Something short and to the point to motivate him. Damned if I can remember what that was! It doesn't really matter, though, as what inspires one is different from another. A couple I heard recently that really struck a chord for me are: "Choices, not chances, determine your destiny" and "Be less discouraged, be more determined".

In "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, he presented the reader with a lot of information about overcoming adversity to achieve ones goals. One thing that he said was "Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something". I'm sure that anyone who writes has hit a brick wall or two.

Anyway, I'm drifting off into the philisophical...I'll leave off with a couple of favourites of mine that I've got on my Facebook page:

  • "We are all travellers in the wilderness of the world, and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend" -- Robert Louis Stevenson
  • "Life is what happens when you are making other plans" -- John Lennon

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like, "one is always nearer by not standing still", which I think is from a poem by Thom Gunn.

Cate Gardner said...

One of my faves...

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. - E.L. Doctorow

Fox Lee said...

I have a horrible time remembering quotes, yet for some reason this one always sticks:

"Ask not for whom the bone bones. It bones for thee."

Bender "Bending" Rodriguez

Alan W. Davidson said...

Anton - I hadn't heard that one before.

Cate - I like that one!

Natalie - I won't ask in what context the word bone is being used...I'm not bad a remembering quotes, it's remembering and telling a joke that I'm hopeless at.