Amen, sister.

Teacher, student, professional -- I think that we are all closet (or overt) doldrum sufferers. Thanks to Mandy Richey for her insight into this part of the year that threatens to make prodigals of us all.

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With that in mind, I'd like use as little brainpower as possible. I have decided to steal from others in order to make this thought provoking. With mad kudos to Matt Byars and his quotes of the day, here are some quotes that I have stumbled upon recently and really liked:

(P.S. -- Quotes in bold, and I have reserved and exercised the right to comment after each.)

The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act.... Plainly the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty.
-- Abraham Lincoln

Does anyone else believe that we've gotten dumber as a society, rather than smarter? You would naturally assume that it worked the other way, of course, but then you go back and read Lincoln, or Mark Twain, and their prosody leaps off of the page -- and not as an antiquated rhetorical artifact, but a living, breathing, impassioned engagement of society. I am often humbled by 19th century essayists, especially when I'm feeling all fat and sassy about something that I have written.

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness. -- Justice William O. Douglas

Wow. Wow. Had you ever heard this one before? I can't believe I've lived my entire life without hearing this wisdom. . . I love this one. If I ever finish my Great American Novel (we're at 893 pages of drivel, and counting) this sucker's gonna be on my dedication page.

There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation. -- President James Madison. 1751-1836

"Be careful little hands, what you do," for governments, maybe?

Every normal man must be tempted at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. -- H.L. Mencken. 1880-1956

Ahh, Mencken. I went through a Mencken/Bierce phase, and though I tell myself I've out grown it, or at least out-civilized it, there are times when his exact turn of phrase fits perfectly. Please don't take this to mean that I am currently contemplating this action. ("I love my students," whispered Mr. Denton quietly, sharpening the knife.)

Middle class people are fearful of losing. So everything is about fear of loss. When's everything is based on money, everything's for sale, including their integrity and their morals. -- Roseanne

Is this not the most salient thing you've ever heard Roseanne say? Do you feel as weird as I do about the inclusion of Roseanne on a wise quotes page? Still, I call 'em like I see 'em, and I think this quotation stands on its own merits.

Never doubt that a small group of concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead

Well, that, and fast food.

Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is. -- Sir Winston Churchill

I use this one in my classroom all the time, especially in my eighth grade Bible class. I've got this strange belief that the truth is just the truth; it stands on its own merits and does not require cajoling. Maybe my favorite Sunday school class of all time was one taught by David Anguish at the Snellville church of Christ . . . one of those happy accidents, as I was not at all a regular; it was the day before Christmas and we were visiting family. Anguish structured his entire class around the story of Jesus and how we ought to believe in it: "Friends, we believe in the Bible not because it is morally courageous, or doctrinally sound, or cleansingly compelling -- we believe because it is the truth. Take a good long look at your own beliefs: you should have no "oughts" or "shoulds" in there. God's story does not appeal based on adjucation: he isn't the best of something, he -IS- the something. Did God say 'I am better than?' Did God say 'I am righter than?' No. God said, 'I AM,' and he is." I was so pumped, I didn't even notice that we didn't sing one single Christmas song. Go C of C! Er, c of C!

Liberty lies in the rights of that person whose views you find most odious. -- John Stuart Mill

Actual conversation, Georgia Southern University, Fall Quarter 1997, Methods of Teaching College Composition --
Dr. Frederick Sanders: Of course, when it comes to composition, we use a standard template of works. You'll note the careful selection of novels, poetry, short stories, essa-
Ambers: (interrupting) Aw, Doc, Doc, Doc! These kids won't read these.
Dr. Sanders: Eh?
Stark: What do you mean?
Ambers: Why can't we vary the curriculum? You know the kids these days. Boom. MTV. Boom. Scooby Doo. Boom. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Boom. Jai Alai. Boom. Jetskis. Right? Right? (Looks at Dr. Sanders, Stark, Williams, Strayhorn, Gbisi, and Denton, all of whom are thoroughly confused.) I mean, it's a new generation, right? Pepsi and all that rat crap?

(Silence for two beats, then everyone talking at once.)

Strayhorn: William? What the h**l are you talking about?
Gbisi: Is it just my English, or is he-
Williams: Naw, I'm from Macon and I don't understand him.
Stark: (honestly confused) Highlighted chassis?
Denton: (giggling uncontrollably) JAI ALAI. He said "JAI ALAI" then "JETSKI."
Ambers: I just mean, well, look here, this one. John Stuart Mill. He sucks eggs. Tell me one reason we should teach John Stuart Mill and not, say, Grisham or somebody popular. Clive Cussler. They'd love Clive Cussler. They're gonna snooze through Mill, yes? Does anyone read this crap?

(Short pause, then Dr. Sanders, Stark, Williams, Strayhorn, Gbisi, and Denton all raise their hands.)

Strayhorn: (beginning to become angry) We're all -- all of us -- all -- you are too --
Stark: We're all freaking graduate students in British Literature, moron.
Denton: Were you hoping for some kind of revolt, or something? Down with the books! Up with Buffy! Jai Alai will be our guide, and Michael Jackson our prophet! JETSKIS . . . . HO!

Of course, the ultimate irony lies in the fact that William Ambers probably held the most odious views of anyone I have ever met. But Mill only gives him liberty, not freedom from taunting. . .

The only thing in the world worth a d*mn is the strange, touching, pathetic, awesome nobility of the individual human spirit. -- John D. MacDonald, A Deadly Shade of Gold

Lest you read the previous comments and find me an elitist psuedo-intellectual snob about books, let me beg you to go immediately to your local library or bookstore and find the Travis McGee mystery/suspense series written by John D. MacDonald from 1964-1986. Read every one of them that you can get your hands on. What a marvelous commentary on the human condition, society, friendships, military service, aging, action, everything -- and all distilled from the perspective of a world weary beach bum who keeps on going by doing favors for his friends. The above quote I once had framed above my bedroom door, just as a reminder.

I'm quoted out for this week. Feel free to comment on these, leave favorites of your own, etc. I hope these fire your synapses and activate your mind.

How do you follow a magnum opus?

You don't. You're emotionally drained, plus there's the fear that you just won't be as relevant the next time you go to write. Then, of course, there's the fear that your magnum opus wasn't as good as you thought in the first place, 'cause it pales in comparision to Shakespeare.

(Poop on you, Harold Bloom!)

Update time, then!

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1. Books I have recently purchased and will read soon:

-Hopscotch- by Julio Cortazar

I'm into this whole "friends of Borges and we all collectively extend the cult of modernism in our own way by exploding it" thingy. Ultraist fiction, indeed! Bring on my Spanish dictionary!

-Child of God- by Cormac McCarthy

Has anyone else read any of McCarthy's earlier work? I'm not talking about the Border Trilogy (-All the Pretty Horses-, -The Crossing-, -Cities of the Plain-); I mean his pre--Blood Meridian- stuff . . . pretty creepy and excellent, from what I understand.

-Selected Poems- by Gwendolyn Brooks

She's black, she's urban, she's an careful wordsmith with a fabulous ear for meter. She is everything I am not. I adore this woman. Why? Because she is everything I am not?

-If Not Now, When?- by Primo Levi

Levi's one of those writers that comes highly recommended by my favorite writers. I look forward to revisiting WWII Italy. Or would that be just visiting WWII Italy?

-Time's Arrow: Or, the Nature of the Offense- by Martin Amis

So he's supposedly a genius, an auteur, a creator of the highest rank . . . we'll see. I loved his memoir, but I'm a little iffy about his fiction.

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2. Mad props to my college homie: Brad Kibler. Words cannot express my joy. He is truly the Prince of Tides, a southern gentleman, a lover of history, the man who asked me, quietly, to stop listening to so many Queen and AC/DC albums.

Miles and years have seperated us. He's away the heck and gone in Coastal Carolina; I'm in metro Atlanta, and we haven't really kept in touch.

I often recall a legendary trip through the heart of Alabama: Nashville to Mobile, driving straight through (after the KOA outside of Columbia, Tennessee was found to be hosting a biker convention) -- we couldn't take a chance on our own personal Sturgis, so we decided in the middle of the night to see the ocean. I, for one, had never been.

Ahhhhhhh . . . maybe the funniest thing I have ever experienced is awakening drowsily to discover that the car was stopped at a gas station in Clanton, idling, one Kibler foot on the brake, one Kibler foot on the clutch, completely prone with the seat all the way back, eyes closed. Thinking he had fallen asleep, or died, I softly wept and whispered, "Brad, Brad." He immediately responded, "Don't be sorrowful, other Brad. I have not died, or fallen asleep. I have merely been struck blind by extreme fatigue. You must drive. When we get to Nashville, take me to Vanderbilt. Tell them I am blind. Tell them I have insurance."

He came, he saw, he commented.