Time for April 1st

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Recent Reads

Two books I read recently -- one a reread:

I reread this one by Mario Vargas Llosa -- a favorite author. I had forgotten some of the detail, so I was pleasantly surprised. And once again, I fell in love with the book.

Paulo Coelho is another favorite. The Alchemist is a reread every so often, a book shared with so many friends. I love it. This one was quick, different, but offering nuggets that called to be underlined and contemplated. What I needed, when I needed it.

One to Hold Tightly

A couple of quotes I collected over the past week or so:

Statistics are no substitute for judgment. 

— Henry Clay

Beware of what you want - for you will get it. 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

And one I'm holding tightly:

The wound is the place where the Light enters you.

― Rumi

The Single Fact

From a Paris Review interview with Gabriel Garcia Marquez:

In journalism just one fact that is false prejudices the entire work. In contrast, in fiction one single fact that is true gives legitimacy to the entire work. That’s the only difference, and it lies in the commitment of the writer. A novelist can do anything he wants so long as he makes people believe in it.

The Hands Bring Out the Hands

Eyes

It seems nothing can provoke
Our inner silence
No sound no word nothing
The eyes bring out the eyes!
Nothing else but this unites us
A leaf touching another leaf
So close and so docile
The hands bring out the hands!
In our age love is an opposition
Let us unite to cast two single shadows...

by Edip Cansever
Translated by Talat Sait Halman

There is Nothing New to be Said

From the Paris Review No. 12 Fiction interview with William Faulkner:

FAULKNER

If I had not existed, someone else would have written me, Hemingway, Dostoyevsky, all of us. Proof of that is that there are about three candidates for the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. But what is important is Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream, not who wrote them, but that somebody did. The artist is of no importance. Only what he creates is important, since there is nothing new to be said. Shakespeare, Balzac, Homer have all written about the same things, and if they had lived one thousand or two thousand years longer, the publishers wouldn't have needed anyone since.

Paris On My Mind

Involve Me

Tell me and I'll forget
Show me and I may remember
Involve me and I'll understand

A Chinese proverb

The Sharp Edge

From WSM:

The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over;
thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard.

At the Twilight

A poem by Rumi:

At the twilight, a moon appeared in the sky;
Then it landed on earth to look at me. 

Like a hawk stealing a bird at the time of prey;
That moon stole me and rushed back into the sky.

I looked at myself, I did not see me anymore;
For in that moon, my body turned as fine as soul.

The nine spheres disappeared in that moon;
The ship of my existence drowned in that sea. 

Seeking You

Miscellaneous quotes, requirements for the journey:

Lou Holtz:

“It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.” 

Kurt Vonnegut, from Mother Night

“We are what we pretend to be, 

so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” 

Zora Neale Hurston, from Their Eyes Were Watching God

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” 

Albert Einstein:

“Imagination is the highest form of research.” 

Rumi:

“What you seek is seeking you.” 

To Know Precisely

Merton on my mind:

You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.

The Four Stories

Paulo Coelho on the four stories:

Borges said there are only four stories to tell: a love story between two people, a love story between three people, the struggle for power and the voyage. All of us writers rewrite these same stories ad infinitum.

A Small and Ordinary "I"

Richard Rohr is a recent discovery (thanks Cindy). I will be sharing his wisdom, and I start with this:

It’s a gift to joyfully recognize and accept our own smallness and ordinariness. Then you are free with nothing to live up to, nothing to prove, and nothing to protect. Such freedom is my best description of Christian maturity, because once you know that your “I” is great and one with God, you can ironically be quite content with a small and ordinary “I.” No grandstanding is necessary. Any question of your own importance or dignity has already been resolved once and for all and forever.