Of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now.
Arnold J. ToynbeeRead
Write regularly, day in and day out, at whatever times of day you find that you write best. Don't wait till you feel that you are in the mood. Write, whether you are feeling inclined to write or not.
Interpretation
Consistent writing is crucial, regardless of one's mood or inspiration.
The quote emphasizes the importance of maintaining a regular writing practice, suggesting that writers should commit to writing every day, regardless of whether they feel motivated or inspired. This discipline helps to cultivate skills and generate creativity over time, reinforcing the idea that writing is an ongoing process rather than a sporadic event driven by inspiration.
In practice
In a writing workshop, to encourage participants to write every day, I shared the quote by Arnold J. Toynbee.
Of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now.
It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.
No being can be what he is unless he is putting his essence into action in his field.
I do not believe that civilizations have to die because civilization is not an organism. It is a product of wills.
Sooner or later, man has always had to decide whether he worships his own power or the power of God.
Love's way of dealing with us is different from conscience's way. Conscience commands; love inspires. What we do out of love, we do because we want to.
I'm a visual thinker, really bad at algebra. There's others that are a pattern thinker. These are the music and math minds. They think in patterns instead of pictures. Then there's another type that's not a visual thinker at all, and they're the ones that memorize all of the sports statistics, all of the weather statistics.
With better vision, we sacrifice for students for whom that sacrifice will most likely pay off. I'm sorry to say this, but there are times when even superhuman effort will not save a child from his environment or himself. It's not the job of the teacher to save a child's soul; it is the teachers' job to provide an opportunity for the child to save his own soul.
It's not that our high school system was not designed well, but that it was designed in 1906 when the country was just out of the industrial era. There hasn't been a substantial systemic change the way we do high school since then.
It is the nurse that the child first hears, and her words that he will first attempt to imitate.
We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
I like that there are young people being given opportunities to explore and learn and grow and become themselves with a path that is associated with my mother. She would have liked that very much.
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