Back in the "leather and lace" eighties, I was the fantasy editor for a publishing company in New York City. It was a great time to be young and footloose on the streets of Manhattan—punk rock and folk music were everywhere; Blondie, the Eurythmics...
We wish we could have been there for you. We didn't have many role models of our own--we latched on to the foolish love of Oscar Wilde and the well-versed longing of Walt Whitman because nobody else was there to show us an untortured path. We were go...
She would (if she could) put her arm around the girl she'd been and try to tell her Take it easy, but the girl would not have listened. The girl had no receptors for Take it easy. And besides, "Hey Jude" was on the radio, it was her prayer, her manif...
The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him... a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, ...
Not speaking and speaking are both human ways of being in the world, and there are kinds and grades of each. There is the dumb silence of slumber or apathy; the sober silence that goes with a solemn animal face; the fertile silence of awareness, past...
The taxi driver felt that it was a good observation, and said he was planning to build for the future, too: he had some money on the horses, and if he won, he would buy his own taxicab, and really do well. I felt very sorry. I told him that betting o...
Love is the only bow on Life’s dark cloud. It is the morning and the evening star. It shines upon the babe, and sheds its radiance on the quiet tomb. It is the mother of art, inspirer of poet, patriot and philosopher. It is the air and light of eve...
Sometimes during our lives, the Universe ensures that we come back into the silence. If we don’t consciously stop in our busy lives, we may have perceptively negative things happen in our lives, sickness, change, events that force us to stop and be...
Steve Jobs gave a small private presentation about the iTunes Music Store to some independent record label people. My favorite line of the day was when people kept raising their hand saying, "Does it do [x]?", "Do you plan to add [y]?". Finally Jobs ...
Education should aim at destroying free will so that pupils thus schooled, will be incapable throughout the rest of their lives of thinking or acting otherwise than as their schoolmasters would have wished. . . . Influences of the home are obstructiv...
If for a moment you are inclined to regard these taluses as mere draggled, chaotic dumps, climb to the top of one of them, and run down without any haggling, puttering hesitation, boldly jumping from boulder to boulder with even speed. You will then ...
I went to a concert upstairs in Town Hall. The composer whose works were being performed had provided program notes. One of these notes was to the effect that there is too much pain in the world. After the concert I was walking along with the compose...
Reverend Clement Hedges: This was no man. Does a man have teeth the size of axe blades? Or ears like terrible tombstones? By tampering with nature, forcing vegetables to swell far beyond their natural size, we have brought a terrible judgement upon o...
Enid: You know, we need to find a place where you can go to meet women who share your interests. Seymour: Well maybe I don't want to meet someone who shares my interests. I hate my interests. Enid: Yeah, yeah, just list your five main interests in or...
Captain von Trapp: Now, when I want you, this is what you will hear. [blows whistle] Maria: Oh, no, sir. I'm sorry, sir. I could never answer to a whistle. Whistles are for dogs and cats and other animals, but not for children and definitely not for ...
Maria: I'd like to thank you all for the precious gift you left in my pocket today. Captain von Trapp: What gift? Maria: It's meant to be a secret between the children and me. Captain von Trapp: Then I suggest you keep it, and let us eat. Maria: Know...
Marta: Why doesn't father turn the motor on? Kurt: [agitated] Because he doesn't want anybody to hear us! Captain von Trapp: Shh! Louisa von Trapp: What will Frau Schmidt and Franz said when they discover we're gone? Captain von Trapp: They'll be abl...
Carl Fredricksen: [to Russell] Now, we're gonna walk to the falls quickly and quietly with no rap music or flashdancing. Russell: Uh-huh. Carl Fredricksen: We have three days, at best, before the helium leaks out of those balloons. And if we're not a...
[the Good Ole Boys arrive late] Jake: My name is Jacob Stein. I'm from the American Federation of Music. I've been sent to see if you gentlemen are carrying your permits. Tucker McElroy: Our what? Jake: Your union cards. May I see your cards please? ...
He who joyfully marches to music rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at ...
Fame is not so impossible for people with charisma, passion and talent. Being famous just means you have fans, and even one or two is enough to make you someone special. Ask a music fan who the best guitarist of all time is, and while one group insis...
