Associate with the noblest people you can find; read the best books; live with the mighty; but learn to be happy alone.
Saul BellowRead
I immersed myself in The Periodic Table gladly and gratefully. There is nothing superfluous here, everything this book contains is essential. It is wonderful pure, and beautifully translated...I was deeply impressed.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a deep appreciation for the essential knowledge contained in 'The Periodic Table,' emphasizing its beauty and necessity.
In this quote, Saul Bellow expresses his profound admiration for 'The Periodic Table,' recognizing it as a work of essential knowledge that is both beautifully constructed and thoughtfully translated. Bellow's words convey a sense of gratitude for the valuable insights it offers, underscoring the importance of literature and knowledge in shaping our understanding of the world.
In practice
A teacher might use this quote to inspire students about the value of literature in their lives.
Associate with the noblest people you can find; read the best books; live with the mighty; but learn to be happy alone.
When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.
In here, the human bosom -- mine, yours, everybody's -- there isn't just one soul. There's a lot of souls. But there are two main ones, the real soul and a pretender soul. Now! Every man realizes that he has to love something or somebody. He feels that he must go outward. 'If thou canst not love, what art thou?' Are you with me?
I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'
I see that I've become a really bad correspondent. It's not that I don't think of you. You come into my thoughts often. But when you do it appears to me that I owe you a particularly grand letter. And so you end in the "warehouse of good intentions": "Can't do it now." "Then put it on hold." This is one's strategy for coping with old age, and with death--because one can't die with so many obligations in storage. Our clever species, so fertile and resourceful in denying its weaknesses.
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
Eighty percent of the cases used in the typical MBA program are about successful companies. Students graduate with this notion that 'If I do everything that the people in those cases did, then my organization will grow and be successful, too.'
In the 1970s, what I, as a young foreign student studying in the United States, found most dynamic, exciting and impressive about this country is what much of the world continues to value most about the U.S. today: its open intellectual culture, its great universities, its capacity for discovery and innovation.
From a cognitive standpoint, I'm very aware that you have no room for error in a picture book. Every word counts.
The best way to get started on the path of sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning it in front of others.
Basic education links the children, whether of the cities or the villages, to all that is best and lasting in India.
A teacher who cannot explain any abstract subject to a child does not himself thoroughly understand his subject; if he does not attempt to break down his knowledge to fit the child's mind, he does not understand teaching.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.