Word Treasures

Commonplace wisdom:

Dr. Seuss took 220 words, rhymed them and turned out Cat in the Hat, a little volume of absurdity that worked like a karate chop on the weary little world of Dick, Jane and Spot.
Ellen Goodman
_____
Good writing is supposed to evoke a sensation in the reader--not the fact that it is raining, but the feel of being rained upon. E. L. Doctorow
_____
A writer lives in awe of words
for they can be cruel or kind,
and they can change their meanings
right in front of you.
They pick up flavors and odors
like butter in the refrigerator.
John Steinbeck
_____
Making a decision to write was a lot like a decision to jump into a frozen lake. I knew I was going in....If I survived at all, it would be a triumph. If I swam, it would be a miracle.
Maya Angelou
_____
Joyce Maynard compares nurturing children to launching toy boats--we lower them gently, run along the bank aways...even get them unstuck a time or two...Then they'll be off toward some unknown destination, while we stand on the shore, waving and cheering, watching them go.
_____
A sixth-grade boy came to the desk, returning a book he really liked The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He asked, "Do you have any more books about deformed bell-ringers?"
_____
Ships in harbor are safe. But that's not what ships are for. John Shedd
_____
The best way out is always through. Helen Keller
_____
I still find that each day is too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see. John Burroughs
_____
Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty. They simply move it from their faces into their hearts. Max Bauxbaum
_____
Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh Gift from the Sea
_____
If you don't believe in ghosts, you have never been to a family reunion. Ashleigh Brillant
_____