Flakes of the life of a sensate man; random notes and pictures that endeavour to capture capricious thoughts, largely of unreasonable and mysterious origin, before they leave forever the wandering mind of a life pilgrim stumbling towards the point where parallel lines meet.
“Give me the sensate mind, that knows The vast extent of human woes!” M. Robinson Angelina II. 1796
Monday, August 16, 2010
Posted beause it touched a nerve....
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."Mark Twain
Like it. Not sure about the first part, though. Probably, as I'd prefer a (you) might (be dissappointed) instead of 'you will ...'. The last lines remind a bit of 'Carpe diem (et noctem), and of Hermann Hesse's Steps.
Will is so much stronger than might. Might invokes contention, contention war which, ultimately, only will can overcome. qv your post and comments concerning the Berlin Wall!
That's quite surprising a reply, John, as I did not at all think of (the substantives/nouns) will and might, but of indicative and subjunctive. Language is fascinating, hm?
John Steinbeck... "thou mayest" (if I remember correctly). East of Eden, a big and complex and rather wonderful book (if I remember correctly from my reading of it aged about 19).
5 comments:
Like it. Not sure about the first part, though. Probably, as I'd prefer a (you) might (be dissappointed) instead of 'you will ...'.
The last lines remind a bit of 'Carpe diem (et noctem), and of Hermann Hesse's Steps.
Will is so much stronger than might. Might invokes contention, contention war which, ultimately, only will can overcome. qv your post and comments concerning the Berlin Wall!
That's quite surprising a reply, John, as I did not at all think of (the substantives/nouns) will and might, but of indicative and subjunctive.
Language is fascinating, hm?
John Steinbeck... "thou mayest" (if I remember correctly). East of Eden, a big and complex and rather wonderful book (if I remember correctly from my reading of it aged about 19).
That is interesting, Andrew, I too devoured Steinbeck during my teenage years. Perhaps East of Eden is due for a fifty-years-on re-read.
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