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| QUOTATIONS 1718-1743 |
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| 1718. When I was young I had a good voice and, perhaps, could have become an opera singer. But I never tried to, and thus would never know if my voice was good enough for that. Again, when I was young my body was so responsive to music, to its ever changing moods and movements, that perhaps I could have become a ballet dancer. But I never tried to, and thus would never know if my body was good enough for that. Also, music seemed to penetrate my every cell. I believe I begun to reproduce melodies before I learned to talk. As I grew, hundreds of them stayed in my memory and I sung or whistle all the time. I often created my own music by imitating other composers. Perhaps, I could have become one. But I never tried to and thus would never know if I was good enough for that. And so, at the end of my life (I'm 65 now) it is impossible to say whether I didn't realize my potentials, or my potentials, even realized, wouldn't have amounted to much. Ah, yes, I forgot to mention the writing. I was always articulate (and still am). And I like to explain things to myself and to others. My writing, therefore, is simply articulation of my thoughts and impressions put down on paper. Whether I realized, at least in this case, my potentials is for others to say. One is never a good judge of this. 1719. In support of my preference for the classical English poetry as opposed to modern one I offer the following lines: First from the Classics, From Shakespeare's "Hamlet" : But I have that within which passes show These but the trappings and the suits of woe. * * * The time is out of joint; O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right! * * * I must be cruel, only to be kind: Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind. From Swift's "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift": We all behold with envious eyes Our equal rais'd above our size. Who would not at a crowded show Stand high himself, keep others low? I love my friend as well as you But would not have him stop my view. Then let him have the higher post: ask but for an inch at most. If in a battle you should find One, whom you love of all mankind, Had some heroic action done, A champion kill'd, or trophy won; Rather than thus be overtopt, Would you not wish his laurels cropt? Dear honest Ned is in the gout, Lies rack'd with pain, and you without: How patiently you hear him groan! How glad the case is not your own! What poet would not grieve to see His brethren write as well as he? But rather than they should excel, He'd wish his rivals all in hell. From Pope's "Ode on Solitude": Happy the man whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air, In his own grounds. Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, Whose flocks supply him with attire, Whose trees in summer yield him shade, In winter fire. Blest, who can unconcern'dly find Hours, days, and years slide swift away, In health of body, peace of mind, Quiet by day, Sound sleep by night; study and ease Together mix'd; sweet recreation, And innocence, which most does please, With meditation. Thus let me live, unheard, unknown; Thus unlamented let me die; Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lie. From Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner": The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free ; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. * * * Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion ; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. From Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a cloud": I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. And now from the Moderns, From Ezra Pound's "Cantos": Nancy where art thou? Whither go all the vair and the cisclations and the wave pattern runs in the stone on the high parapet (Excideuil) Mt Segur and the city of Dioce Que tous les mois avons nouvelle lune What the deuce has Herbiet (Christian) ---done with his painting? (from Canto LXXX) From Elliot's "The Waste Land": Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante, Had a bad cold, nevertheless Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe, With a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she, Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor, (Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!) Here is Belladonna, The Lady of the Rocks, The lady of situations. Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel, And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card, Which is blank, is something he carries on his back, Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find The Hanged Man. Fear death by water. I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring. Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone, Tell her I bring the horoscope myself: One must be so careful these days. Ladies and gentlemen, need I say more? I rest my case, and yield the floor to Hamlet to say the last word: Look here, upon this picture, and on this, The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. See, what a grace was seated on this brow; Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself; An eye like Mars, to threaten and command; A station like the herald Mercury New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill; A combination and a form indeed, Where every god did seem to set his seal, To give the world assurance of a man: This was your husband. Look you now, what follows: Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear, Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes? Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed, And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes? ........................................and what judgment Would step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have, Else could you not have motion; but sure, that sense Is apoplex'd; for madness would not err, Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'd But it reserved some quantity of choice, To serve in such a difference. What devil was't That thus hath cozen'd you at hoodman-blind? Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight, Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all, Or but a sickly part of one true sense Could not so mope. 1720. Ideally, the only way any book could be fully appreciated is when a person stranded on the uninhabited island with nothing else but this book would be forced to read it again and again, word after word, sentence after sentence. 1721. The mankind can be roughly divided into 2 groups: "the homo sapience" and "the homo sexual." And when the emphasis is put on the adjective in both terms each could be regarded as a partial definition, for those adjectives —sapience and sexual — provide the most prominent characteristic of each group. 1722.Unlike the majority of the middle class consumers of the trendy non-fictions on the subjects of psychology and sociology, politics and economics, etc., I don't read books whose main idea and message could be expressed in an article, or even in the few succinct and to the point sentences. 1723. Before criticizing some disagreeable aspects of British national character, think about the special kind of brutality of 19th-century English life which is largely responsible for its formation. 1724. Speaking one's mind freely makes one more tolerant of the others doing likewise. For as in everything in life, we feel inclined to forgive in others what we find in ourselves. 1725. Some spend a lot of their time trying to figure out what makes others tick. Few are too busy finding out who they are to pay much attention to anybody else's life. For better or for worse, I belong to the second group — plenty of self-knowledge, little of knowing anybody else. I guess, there are people capable of both. Alas, not me. Very often have to pay the price. But that's life. The price of life is life itself — the awesome price to pay. 1726. The mount is too small for two prophets. The pulpit is too small for two preachers. The classroom is too small for two teachers. The kitchen is too small for two cooks. The ship is too small for two captains. The kingdom is too small for two kings... 1727. When it was predicted in the middle of 20th century that the World would become a global village no one has foreseen that by the beginning of the 21th all the villagers would be wearing Chinese sleepers. 1728. One who is the most vociferous about his independence and self-reliance is also one who knows well enough he has nobody to depend or rely on. Thus, these virtues are but a product of necessity, and the often (too often) repeated declarations about them is just putting a good face on the bad matter. I arrived at this opinion by observing for many years the typical behavior of the Toronto WASPs. Most of them project this outward image of fierce independence and self-reliance. But the more I knew them the more I realize that they are as vulnerable as the rest of us, and that such an image is but a façade, behind which hides a person deeply hurt by the life long experience of the indifference and refusal to help. 1729. Though the expression "Excuse me" should signify on the face of it an apology, in the mouth of a typical Toronto WASP it sounds like an imperial demand, tinged with impatience and annoyance. But then, most of what people of this type say has this tone, especially when they deign to address someone not of their own. 1730. I'm looking toward a long life, long enough to get an Alzheimer — the state of being without thoughts or memories, without past, present or future, a state of total separation from the world, from reality itself, in a word , a state of Nirvana. Only this time easily accessible, as befits our egalitarian age, to everyone who is healthy enough to have a long life. 1731. In her eternal, biologically driven quest to secure a man of her own, a woman employs two different strategies, used at the different stages of "conquest" — first to get a man, and second to keep him. To get a man she treats him as a paragon of all virtues — he is smart, witty, generous, brave, etc., etc. She laughs at his every joke, and sympathizes with his every sorrow. She is forever grateful for each of his presents. Enraptured, she listens to his every word as if God himself speaks to her. And finally, in the innumerable ways she let him know that he is the one and only man she has ever wanted. Few men can resist such a flood of flattery. On the top of it the Nature endowed woman with a special ability to make herself attractive when she wants to seduce a man. Even a plain ones have some magical light inside which could be switched (almost automatically) on when the occasion calls. After successfully turning this man into a husband the second strategy employed to keep him. Gradually all his virtue turn into their opposites — vices, or at least failings: smart becomes stupid, witty — dull, generous — stingy, brave — coward, etc. All this done to make the man feel inadequate and to realize how lucky he is to have a woman willing to put up with it. Now, the execution of each of these strategies is a very delicate matter, and could easily misfire if a woman lacks the necessary skills. At the first stage — capturing a man by flattery — it shouldn't be overdone, for the man may begin to believe that he is too good for her and leave to look for someone more suitable for such a model of manly virtues. At the second stage — keeping a man by deflating his ego — it shouldn't be overdone either, lest the man begin to feel unappreciated and abused and leave to look for someone who will value him more and understand him better. Rather than deliberate, I think these strategies are instinctual and because they are so wide spread they must have been proven effective in the past and transmitted from mothers to daughters, and from one woman to another. 1732. It is incredible how little we know about each other. Even the close friends, spouses, parents and children. Is it lack of curiosity and concern? Or is it the inherent mystery of a human being? For how much do we know about ourselves? 1733. Whenever I listen to the young people (especially the girls) talking I get the impression that what they are talking about at the moment is not that important, that basically it is but a rehearsal for some really important conversations in the future. It is remind me of the way the young animals play with each other to get ready to the real life as an adults when those whom nature destined to be predators shall hunt, and those to be pray — to escape. 1734. The biggest question confronting humanity — six billion people living on this planet — today is whether we would allow the few young men with the explosives strapped to their bodies to determine our fate and to make war on terror our main preoccupation, instead of pursuing our dreams and realizing our aspirations. For that is what Pres. Bush tells us, in essence, when he says that the war on terrorism is the most important struggle we all have to engage in. I, personally, don't think the overwhelming majority of people of this world are willing to surrender their lives to this struggle and to make it the central part of our existence as the present American administration is trying to convince us all. 1735. In view of what is happening nowadays in the majority of Muslim countries there is a lot of concern, even doubts whether Islam is compatible with Democracy. But what about Judaism and Christianity? For all three Abrahamic religions are messianic in nature, i.e., the crucial part of their creeds is a belief in the eventual coming of The Messiah, the anointed one, who will rule the New World —The Kingdom of Heaven — which is essentially an authoritarian principle. So, how it could be reconciled with the modern idea of democracy, when people rule themselves? Is there a need (or a place) for the Messiah —the king—in the modern world? 1736. Though I can't remember when was the last time I was asked for one, I still like to give an advice now and then. And while most, if not all , of my advices are unsolicited, I believe they, nevertheless, serve a certain useful purpose. For even when wrong and/or untimely, they make the recipient to focus, in the process of rejecting them, on his/her own approach to the problem, and to look for own solution. 1737. Mob — a group of individuals who, however, do not act as the free independent individuals but as the parts of the same body. To qualify for a membership in the Mob one has to be unaccustomed to think for himself and, therefore, unable to independently form an opinion on any subject of importance. As a result, the members of the Mob could be made relatively easy to adopt the popular ideas of the time and sincerely believe them to be their own, sometimes to such a degree that they will be willing to put their lives on the line to defend them. The origin and strength of their convictions are of inductive nature — if so many believe in this or that it must be right. The Mob can participate in the pogroms and kill and destroy the property of the people whom they personally don't know and, as individuals, would never think of harming. Or they may sit at the symphony concert and applaud the music, none of them would like if left to decide for himself. Because of that, the Mob behavior is the greatest threat to human decency and artistic taste, and should be contentiously exposed and fought against, regardless of the obvious dire consequences to the brave individuals who engage in this thankless and endless struggle.. 1738. Recently, I went to a concert of Modern music. Some pieces had so many sudden twists, unexpected turns, and uncontrollable jerks occasionally interrupted by the inexplicably violent outbursts that one may suspected they were composed by someone suffering from Tourettes syndrome. The others sounded like a background music to a horror movie , intended to keep the listeners on the edge of their seats waiting for something terrible about to happen. The only thing missing was the sound of feet of people leaving and of doors being repeatedly open and closed. Alas, there was no one in the audience brave enough even to suggest that emperor was naked. And although one has to sympathize with the musicians, for it is not an easy music to perform, it has a certain advantage —no listener will ever notice a false note. 1739. As I grow older my dreams become so much more interesting than my life that every morning I wake up with a feeling of regret. 1740. While in the past the name "conservative" would automatically identify someone who is against progress, and the name "liberal" — one who is for it, nowadays, before using these labels, it's worth keeping in mind that in the present for every gullible, narrowminded, fanatical conservative there is equally gullible, narrowminded, and fanatical liberal. 1741. Gods are men's needs made flesh. 1742. Some are looking for a refuge in illusions. I've found it in truth. 1743. As I grew old, the world aged with me, like over-vintaged wine turned from sweet to sour. The winds of life blew year after year away, like the dried petals of the wilted flower. Its magic fragrance dissipated, gone. No trace or memory of it is left in cold, thin air of the old age. Bleached into vapid black and white its colors that once were so bright and fair. And what from a distance of my hopeful youth looked like a smooth veneer, no fault or blemish, up close has revealed too many pocks and cracks thus causing all my sweet illusions vanish. |
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