Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Quotable Tuesday, Preface

I have designs to do a post every Tuesday called "Quotable Tuesday."  What you're reading now is more just a preliminary ("What's past is prologue" a nice quote, right there - and while not especially applicable to this context, it's still nice!) and I hope to have the first honest-to-goodness post of the series up later today.

I'm doing this for two reasons.  I like the idea of having a regular "feature."  And I really like quotes, or rather, more precisely the stuff of quotes, the lines, phrases, statements that make for good quotes.  I often find myself drawn towards pithy, aphoristic writing, think Minima Moralia.  And most of my favorite moments in poetry are similar in that way.  And while my love of fiction extends beyond just quote-mining, I'm never unhappy to find a great phrase or line that can stand outside of its context.  I also enjoy reading writers talking about writing and often there are many good quotes to be had there.  And of course, the Bible lends itself marvelously to quotation.

So why quotes?  I think that there is great power to be had in the quote.  Often we find in a quote a crystallized form of something we felt (and maybe didn't even know we felt).  It is there said much more adeptly than we could have.  Also, too, the quote, the condensed nature of it, can often cause us to further reflect, perhaps work towards understanding it more deeply, and as such a springboard for good thought they are especially valuable.

2 comments:

  1. A few specific lines from Hemingway (A Farewell to Arms) have stuck with me for more than ten years: "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry."

    ReplyDelete
  2. “Also, too, the quote, the condensed nature of it, can often cause us to further reflect, perhaps work towards understanding it more deeply, and as such a springboard for good thought they are especially valuable.”

    I think this is very well put. I wish I could convey just this mindset to my students, who always want to put random quotes from historical figures into introductions without understanding that “springboard” concept.

    One quote that always sticks with my is from the movie Seven: “Ernest Hemingway wrote 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part.” The balance between the cynicism of denying that the world is a fine place and the optimism of recognizing not just the possibility, but the need to fight to make it so is just lovely. If only all cynicism could be immediately followed by such optimism.

    ReplyDelete