Ralph Waldo Emerson
Archive for May, 2011
The man who has no inner life is a slave to his surroundings…
May 30, 2011Henri-Frederic Amiel
Henri Frédéric Amiel (28 September 1821 – 11 May 1881) was a Swiss philosopher, poet and critic.
Born in Geneva in 1821, he was descended from a Huguenot family driven to Switzerland by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
After losing his parents at an early age, Amiel travelled widely, became intimate with the intellectual leaders of Europe, and made a special study of German philosophy in Berlin. In 1849 he was appointed professor of aesthetics at the academy of Geneva, and in 1854 became professor of moral philosophy. These appointments, conferred by the democratic party, deprived him of the support of the aristocratic party, which comprised nearly all the culture of the city.
This isolation inspired the one book by which Amiel is still known, the Journal Intime (“Private Journal”), which, published after his death, obtained a European reputation. It was translated into English by Mary A. Ward at the instigation of Mark Pattison.
Although second-rate as regards productive power, Amiel’s mind was of no inferior quality, and his Journal gained a sympathy that the author had failed to obtain in his life. In addition to the Journal, he produced several volumes of poetry and wrote studies on Erasmus, Madame de Stael and other writers. He died in Geneva.
There are some virtues to not saying what you think all the time…
May 29, 2011Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, CC, O.Ont, FRSC (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. While she may be best known for her work as a novelist, she is also a poet, having published 15 books of poetry to date. Many of her poems have been inspired by myths and fairy tales, which have been interests of hers from an early age. Atwood has published short stories in Tamarack Review, Alphabet, Harper’s, CBC Anthology, Ms., Saturday Night, and many other magazines. She has also published four collections of stories and three collections of unclassifiable short prose works.
She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Prince of Asturias award for Literature, has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times, winning once, and has been a finalist for the Governor General’s Award seven times, winning twice.
Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as you mind lets you…
May 28, 2011Mary Kay Ash
Mary Kay Ash (May 12, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American businesswoman and founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.
Others may be able to accept standards from another, but an artist is a person who decides…
May 27, 2011William Stafford
William Edgar Stafford (January 17, 1914 – August 28, 1993) was an American poet and pacifist, and the father of poet and essayist Kim Stafford. He was appointed the twentieth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1970
Motivation will almost always beat mere talent…
May 26, 2011Norman Augustine
Norman Ralph Augustine (born July 27, 1935) is a U.S. aerospace businessman who served as Under Secretary of the Army from 1975-77. Augustine currently serves as chairman of the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee.
The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going…Anonymous
May 25, 2011Anonymous
Delay is the deadliest form of denial…
May 24, 2011C. Northcote Parkinson
Cyril Northcote Parkinson (30 July 1909 – 9 March 1993) was a British naval historian and author of some sixty books, the most famous of which was his bestseller Parkinson’s Law, which led him to be also considered as an important scholar within the field of public administration.
Many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for four-leaf clovers. …
May 16, 2011Anonymous
