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"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Carpal Tunnel
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Can't decide whether to post
It's lovely -- not at all not word-related -- but it's lovely
or:
Not at all word-related -- it's lovely -- but not at all word-related.
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Anonymous
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wow, Whit ~ and here i've been avoiding the Board b/c it's so much chat and not enough about what i come here for ~ the glory of words... whether poetry, prose, parsing or peculiarities.
one famous emerson quote which i've never quite understood is "The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons". the meaning is obvious, but why spoons?
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Carpal Tunnel
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maybe Emerson was alluding to Dickens, from Oliver Twist:
Mr. Bumble had re-counted the tea-spoons, re-weighed the sugar-tongs, made a closer inspection of the milk-pot, and ascertained to a nicety the exact condition of the furniture, down to the very horse- hair seats of the chairs; and had repeated each process full half-a-dozen times; before he began to think that it was time for Mrs. Corney to return. Thinking begets thinking; as there were no sounds of Mrs. Corney's approach, it occurred to Mr. Bumble that it would be an innocent and virtuous way of spending the time, if he were further to allay his curiosity by a cursory glance at the interior of Mrs. Corney's chest of drawers. -- but that doesn't really answer the question.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thank you, Sweet WO'N--I knew there had to be a reason I am not afraid to die!  I wonder if, when he wrote that, he knew how powerful it would become? Gives us all something to aspire to. About the spoons--my bet is that it relates to things I've read about light-fingered dinner guests stealing the silverware. Possibly spoons because they were least likely to be missed, or else least likely to poke holes or show an outline in the pocket of the thief?
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Joined: Feb 2002
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Posts: 322 |
It's lovely -- not at all not word-related -- but it's lovely
or:
Not at all word-related -- it's lovely -- but not at all word-related.
But it is AWAD-related -- this was the quote that came with one of our daily words (can't remember when, but I cut and pasted it into my quotes file at the time because I liked it so much)
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Carpal Tunnel
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I have heard snide remarks about Emerson's preachments. Transcendentalism can get murky, but in moderation I can enjoy it. I'd be interested to hear some opinions as to why Thoreau seems to be more admired than Emerson.
Spoons of silver were so valuable they tempted thieves. I wonder how many people still use silver, now that stainless steel tableware is quite nicely crafted.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thanks for that, WO'N. It's a beautiful piece, in terms of both style and content. And a nice departure from all the "wink-wink nudge-nudge tee-hee" this board has been suffering lately.
Re: Dr. Bill's question, I'm not at all sure why Thoreau is more popular than Emerson. Is it because of his experience at Walden Pond? One of his dictums I particularly like as I begin to ease into geezerhood is "Simplify, simplify, simplify."
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old hand
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old hand
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I wasn't "suffering" from wink-wink nudge-nudge meself. I rather enjoy a bit o' that from time to time. Do love this quote though....  [nudge-e][nudge-e]
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Let every one of us take caradea's sentiments to heart:
"I've been avoiding the Board b/c it's so much chat and not enough about what i come here for ~ the glory of words... whether poetry, prose, parsing or peculiarities."
She's luckier than I am - I've nowhere else to go.
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