I am a person who continually destroys the possibilities of a future because of the numbers of alternative viewpoints I can focus on the present.
Doris LessingRead
Whenever I met anyone who knew anything, I would bore them stiff until they told me what they knew.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the value of knowledge and the desire to learn from others.
Doris Lessing's quote emphasizes the importance of curiosity and the relentless pursuit of knowledge. It highlights a proactive approach to learning, where the speaker actively engages with knowledgeable individuals to extract valuable insights. The quote suggests that one should never hesitate to ask questions and seek information, as knowledge is a powerful tool for personal growth.
In practice
In a classroom setting to encourage students to engage with knowledgeable guests.
I am a person who continually destroys the possibilities of a future because of the numbers of alternative viewpoints I can focus on the present.
In the writing process, the more the story cooks, the better. The brain works for you even when you are at rest. I find dreams particularly useful. I myself think a great deal before I go to sleep and the details sometimes unfold in the dream.
Humanity's legacy of stories and storytelling is the most precious we have. All wisdom is in our stories and songs. A story is how we construct our experiences. At the very simplest, it can be: 'He/she was born, lived, died.' Probably that is the template of our stories - a beginning, middle, and end. This structure is in our minds.
There is a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them in yourself and be conscious of them.
The World War I, I'm a child of World War I. And I really know about the children of war. Because both my parents were both badly damaged by the war. My father, physically, and both mentally and emotionally. So, I know exactly what it's like to be brought up in an atmosphere of a continual harping on the war.
You should write, first of all, to please yourself. You shouldn't care a damn about anybody else at all. But writing can't be a way of life - the important part of writing is living. You have to live in such a way that your writing emerges from it.
Public libraries are the sole community centers left in America. The degree to which a branch of the local library is connected to the larger culture is a reflection of the degree to which the community itself is connected to the larger culture.
Medical knowledge and technical savvy are biodegradable. The sort of medicine that was practiced in Boston or New York or Atlanta fifty years ago would be as strange to a medical student or intern today as the ceremonial dance of a !Kung San tribe would seem to a rock festival audience in Hackensack.
I loved to read, and I think any child who loves to read will read anything, including the back of the cereal box, which I did every morning.
The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done.
In the long run, your human capital is your main base of competition. Your leading indicator of where you're going to be 20 years from now is how well you're doing in your education system.
We worship education but hate learning. We worship success but hate the successful. We worship fame but hate the famous.
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