I awoke today, for some reason, contemplating quotations. For almost as long as I can remember, I have been enthralled with words and the insightful words of others that resonate with me. When I was young, my parents had a subscription to Reader’s Digest magazine. When it would arrive, I would look to the contents which were listed on the front cover to find where they put the page of “Quotable Quotes” this month. That was my first and favorite place to go. I guess Reader’s Digest had an offer at some point where you could purchase a dictionary and my mother did, indeed, purchase it. This dictionary, however, was not your run-of-the-mill dictionary, it was the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary and it had many facets to it, including a section where they compiled past “Quotable Quotes.” I pored over that dictionary all the time. As I said, I was enthralled with words and quotes but I also had a curiosity to learn new things and there were many things in there to learn. I think I am due to take a walk down memory lane, and Amazon will allow me to do so: they offer copies of this treasure which hails from the 1960s. I don’t think my book collection is complete without a copy.
As I grew into my teen years, I had posters with quotations in my room. Two of my very favorites were Albert Camus’ “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer,” and Robert Frost’s, “The only way out is through.” In addition, I would copy quotations onto pieces of construction paper and tack them onto my bulletin board or place them throughout my bedroom. I guess I liked to read the inspirational words of others. When computers became pervasive, I started to amass lists of quotations from various sites. I would sometimes print these to keep in a folder in my classroom where they would eventually appear on my board under the title, “Thought for the day….” The yellow folder I keep these quotes in has faded as has the student interest in them. I used to have students who wanted to copy down the quotes or, later, those who asked to take a photo of them. When the interest waned, I stopped writing the quotes but, perhaps, I will give it another chance. I recently had a former student who works in my building recall that students would give me scraps of paper with quotes on them to vie for a chance at their quote appearing on my board. He asked if I remembered his quotation. I must admit, I did not, but I was confident it was contained in my folder. While looking for his quote, which I found, I also found a quotation from one of my favorite former students, a United States Marine, who lost his battle with PTSD a short while ago. The quote, in his handwriting, will go to his family. The written word is powerful.
The thing about quotations is that they keep on coming or I find ones that I had never heard before. Recently, I found two that spoke to me. The first, author unknown, came via Facebook: “She silently stepped out of the race that she never wanted to be in, found her own lane and proceeded to win.” I just love this quotation! Another came from an unlikely source (for me, anyway): a movie. In my Honors English IV class, we were working on Archetypal Perspectives and watched a clip from The Legend of Bagger Vance. I am not much of a movie aficionado. I had heard of this movie, of course, but knew nothing about it. The clip we watched had a quotation that, once again, spoke to me. It is as follows:
“Yep… Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing… Somethin’ we was born with… Somethin’ that’s ours and ours alone… Somethin’ that can’t be taught to ya or learned… Somethin’ that got to be remembered… Over time the world can rob us of that swing… It get buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas… Some folk even forget what their swing was like…”
The Legend of Bagger Vance
Steven Pressfield
I asked my students to contemplate this concept, identify their “one true authentic swing,” and write a reflective essay about it. Of course, I couldn’t ask them to do something I wouldn’t do so I, too, tried to think of just what is such an intrinsic part of me that, without it, I wouldn’t be me. Of course, the answer is written words. The soundtrack of my life would always include the lyrics over the music, I would always choose the book over the movie, the written word over the spoken word. I have often said I am better on paper.
I recently celebrated another birthday and that is not something I should ever take for granted. It was a delightful day where I got to spend time with everyone I love most in the world. My students, with their usual insight, often say “tomorrow is not promised,” and we all know that to be true. With all of this in mind, I must make writing a priority. I so enjoy stringing words together, even if no one ever reads them. My classes watched the movie The Bucket List, and we were all reminded by Carter and Edward to “find the joy in our lives.” I think it is about time for me to do so.