I'd rather have two good friends, than 500,000 admirers.
E. E. CummingsRead
things which in my mind blossom will stumble beneath a clumsiest disguise appear capable of fragility and indecision
Interpretation
The quote suggests that the delicate and beautiful thoughts we have may not always present themselves well in the real world.
E. E. Cummings reflects on the complexity of thoughts and emotions, highlighting that our most profound ideas and feelings can sometimes succumb to external appearances or circumstances that diminish their true beauty. The imagery of blossoming thoughts contrasting with clumsiness illustrates the fragile nature of creativity and self-expression in a world that often prioritizes practicality over vulnerability.
In practice
This quote can be used during a motivational speech about embracing creativity in the face of adversity.
I'd rather have two good friends, than 500,000 admirers.
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
When god decided to invent everything he took one reath bigger than a circustent and everything began
The Artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself.
Nobody else can be alive for you; nor can you be alive for anybody else.
Mass communication--wonder as it may be technologically and something to be appreciated and valued--presents us wit a serious daner, the danger of conformism, due to the fact that we all view the same things at the same time in all the cities of the country. (p. 73)
Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework, with its endless repetition: the clean becomes soiled, the soiled is made clean, over and over, day after day. The housewife wears herself out marking time: she makes nothing, simply perpetuates the present β¦ Eating, sleeping, cleaning β the years no longer rise up towards heaven, they lie spread out ahead, grey and identical. The battle against dust and dirt is never won.
Man is firmly convinced that he is awake; in reality he is caught in a net of sleep and dreams which he has unconsciously woven himself.
The law of nations is naturally founded on this principle, that different nations ought in time of peace to do one another all the good they can, and in time of war as little injury as possible, without prejudicing their real interests.
I have to confess that I have so rarely experienced triumph that I cannot claim to know it well enough to judge, but it seems to be at best a momentary joy followed instantly by sadness, and, then, of necessity, by wariness.
When I die I won't go to heaven or hell; there will just be nothingness.
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