Regret

Always regret,
never remorse.

We try

We try to make the world conform to us
because we are too small to conform to it.

The smart person

The smart person is the one who longs all day to be smarter.

Release

The greatest release is the release from being.

Theory of living

Any theory of living predicated upon a falsehood is a failure.

Enlightenment

Isn't it interesting how enlightenment is always defined in accordance with someone else's way of thinking?

The diet

Find the diet you thrive on.

I strive, so

I strive, so I doubt.

Magnanimity

Magnanimity, not animosity.

The things you loved when you were young (Scott)

The things you loved when you were young will never be able to make you young again. The reluctant acceptance of this fact is the source of nostalgia, a disorder that afflicts every modern generation in its own special way.

A.O. Scott

Our determination to win

Our determination to win ensures our losses.

So many

In this world, so many occasions for disappointment, so many opportunities for regret.

On originality

The risk of saying what no one else has said is that you may be saying something that no one else will find interesting or important. Originality must still serve relevance.

Fanaticism

Fanaticism has yet to produce a satisfactory witticism.

Now

Now is fodder for later.

I am

I am one-fifth desire to explain,
four-fifths desire to understand.

Believe nothing

Believe nothing.
But be ready to believe the next thing.

Understatement

Understatement is a kind of exaggeration.

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What everyone wants (Bell)

I want what everyone wants:  more.

Marvin Bell, "West Coast Oceanic"

Poems

Poems are reports on experience, encoded by self.

The banal

The banal isn't always boring: even the climax can exist there.

In the banal

We live most of our lives in the banal. Poetry must be able to address this.

The higher genius

Which is the higher genius, the genius of getting what you want or the genius of knowing what to want?

A poem

A poem without imperfections is a sterile thing.

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Rain instructing a cloud (Bell)

To help you any more than this would be like the rain instructing a cloud—too late, too late.

Marvin Bell, "More About Writing the Dead Man Poem"

Very little

There is very little that we are allowed to do that doesn't diminish our humanity (even when it may increase our experience). Writing a poem (perhaps reading a poem) remains an exception.

Learned more

I learned more in the writing of the poem
than I was able to convey in the poem.
You may do the same in the reading of it.

Dabblers & dilettantes

Dabblers and dilettantes may also be poets.

The banal

Don't ignore the banal:  break it open so we can learn what emerges.

Almost everything

Almost everything is a taunt or a tease.

The discordant rhythm

The discordant rhythm can serve as well in poetry as in jazz, or in life.

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The sadness of the world (Celine)

The sadness of the world has different ways of getting to people, but it seems to succeed almost every time.

Louis-Ferdinand Celine

Cliches

Life is full of cliches.  A poetry that insists on ignoring them will always feel a little false.

Euphoria

Never repent euphoria.

Alienation

Alienation, too, is an attention.

Life is a

Life is a tease.

To understand a thing

To understand a thing, you must say it.

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Adventure (Heat-Moon)

Adventure...[is] putting into motion one's ignorance.

William Least Heat-Moon, River-Horse

No time

Eventually there is no time for anything
except remembering and forgetting.

To build now of then

To build now of then
is the effort of a lifetime.

Great things

There is no such thing as a great man or woman.

But there are a few who say or do great things.

The miracle

The miracle is not the miracle,
but our perception of the miracle.

He will cling to his fantasies (Harari)

As long as he fought imaginary giants, Don Quixote was just play-acting, but once he actually kills somebody, he will cling to his fantasies for all he is worth, because they are the only thing giving meaning to his terrible crime. Paradoxically, the more sacrifices we make for an imaginary story, the stronger the story becomes, because we desperately want to give meaning to these sacrifices and to the suffering we have caused.

Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus:  A Brief History of Tomorrow

Human nature

Most predictions about the future forget to take human nature into account.

The path we're taking (Mishima)

The path we're taking is not a road...it's a pier...

Yukio Mishima, Spring Snow

Conspiracy

The best place to hide a conspiracy is behind a conspiracy theory.  Even better, behind an engine constantly generating new conspiracy theories.

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Every thing

Every "thing" is in fact a range defined by parameters.

An unfortunate truth

An unfortunate truth remains
first and foremost a truth.

Belief

I don't believe in belief.

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Permission

Never confuse permission with freedom.

Work

Work is neutral; judge motive, judge result.

What you have

It is no crime to enjoy what you have
without chasing after more.

The knowing

The known is truer than the knowing.

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