Normen En Quotes & Sayings

The poet Gary Snyder's finely unpoetic image of composting is useful here. Stuff goes into the writer, a whole lot of stuff, not notes in a notebook but everything seen and heard and felt all day every day, a lot of garbage, leftovers, dead leaves, eyes of potatoes, artichoke stems, forests, streets, rooms in slums, mountain ranges, voices, screams, dreams, whispers, smells, blows, eyes, gaits, gestures, the touch of a hand, a whistle in the night, the slant of light on the wall of a child's room, a fin in a waste of waters. All this stuff goes down into the novelist's personal compost bin, where it combines, recombines, changes; gets dark, mulchy, fertile, turns into ground. A seed falls into it, the ground nourishes the seed with the richness that went into it, and something grows. But what grows isn't an artichoke stem and a potato eye and a gesture. It's a new thing, a new whole. It's made up. — Ursula K. Le Guin

Sleep is an unfortunate biological requirement that both wastes time and leaves one vulnerable. — Douglas Preston

Slavery can only be abolished by raising the character of the people who compose the nation; and that can be done only by showing them a higher one. — Maria Weston Chapman

How simple it could be! The answer to the problem of being anything was being it. How admirable Teddy was! From the ashes of his broken childhood he had formed a decision to be a cheerful person, a do-gooding scientific type with knowledge of English literature. That he had undercurrents of sadness as long and deep as a river was not the point. He had claimed a territory for himself and did not think too much about the complications. — Laurie Colwin

The sadness is that words hurt and can cause many a conflict, however when used for good they create waves of optimism and hope. — Paul Isaacs

I know I've done good things, I know I've done bad things. — Jared Kushner

The secret to success: Do what you say you're going to do. — Danielle LaPorte

The man may be the head of the household. But the woman is the neck, and she can turn the head whichever way she pleases. — Nia Vardalos

The art from the East is influenced by nature and touch. That comes from being more attuned to the environment. — Billy Al Bengston

That gracious thing, made up of tears and light. — Samuel Taylor Coleridge