Writing Inspiration | 23 | 03.1.18
Excerpts
Play. Yes, I thought, that’s it. That’s the word. The secret of happiness, I’d always suspected, the essence of beauty or truth, or all we ever need to know of either, lay somewhere in that moment when the ball is in midair, when both boxers sense the approach of the bell, when the runners near the finish line and the crowd rises as one. There’s a kind of exuberant clarity in that pulsing half second before winning and losing are decided. I wanted that, whatever that was, to be my life, my daily life.
from Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, founder of Nike (rec. by Curt Roberts)
White’s insistence that the photographer dress up his story to enable it to pass as a reflection of Mankind was presented in the name of the standard notion that art should be universalized — the concept that makes White’s own photography so hollow. Despite all his talk of mirrors, he didn’t seem to understand that there can be no such thing as common experience if there are no specific selves to reflect it.
from White and Black by Ingrid Sischy, published in The New Yorker
…But I will confess
that I began as an astronomer — a liking
for bright flashes, vast distances, unreachable things,
a hand stretched always toward the furthest limit —
and that my longing for you has not taken me
very far from that original desire
to inscribe a comet’s orbit around the walls
of our city, to gently stroke the surface of the stars.
from On the Origins of Things by Troy Jollimore (rec. by Chris Rawle)
Things start out as hopes and end up as habits.
quote from Lillian Hellman
Words
(all from Untimely by Jill Lepore, published in The New Yorker)
prurient
having or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters
lampoon
publicly criticize (someone or something) by using ridicule, irony, or sarcasm; a speech or text criticizing someone or something in this way
squib
a short piece of satirical writing; a small firework that burns with a hissing sound before exploding; a small, slight, or weak person, especially a child
contumely
insolent or insulting language or treatment
