Friday

Jan. 24, 1997

The Proverb as Warning

by Diana Der-Hovanessian

FRIDAY 1/24

Today's Reading:"The Proverb as Warning" by Diana Der-Hovanessian from THE CIRCLE DANCERS, published by The Sheep Meadow Press (1996).

Today is the feast day of Saint Francois de Sales, patron saint of writers and author of INTRODUCTION TO A DEVOUT LIFE (1609).

The Saint Paul Winter Carnival opens today in Saint Paul, Minnesota with ten day of over 100 outdoor and indoor events celebrating the fun of winter.

It's the birthday of animal behaviorist Desmond Morris (THE NAKED APE) born in Wiltshire, England, 1928.

Ballet dancer Maria Tallchief was born on this day in Fairfax, Oklahoma, 1925.

Healing evangelist Oral Roberts was born on this day near Bebee, Oklahoma, 1918.

Abstract Expressionist painter Robert Motherwell was born on this day in Aberdeen, Washington, 1915.

It's the birthday of novelist Vicki Baum (GRAND HOTEL) born in Vienna in 1888.

Pulitzer prize-winning author Edith Wharton (THE HOUSE OF MIRTH; THE AGE OF INNOCENCE) was born on this day in New York City, 1862.

On this day in 1848, gold was discovered near Coloma, California, when an employee of John Sutter found some gold flakes while building a sawmill.

German writer and composer Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann was born in Konigsberg, Prussia, 1776.

English playwright William Congreve (THE WAY OF THE WORLD) was born on this day in Yorkshire, England, 1670.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.®

 

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  • “Writers end up writing stories—or rather, stories' shadows—and they're grateful if they can, but it is not enough. Nothing the writer can do is ever enough” —Joy Williams
  • “I want to live other lives. I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get. Writing is my way of making other chances.” —Anne Tyler
  • “Writing is a performance, like singing an aria or dancing a jig” —Stephen Greenblatt
  • “All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • “Good writing is always about things that are important to you, things that are scary to you, things that eat you up.” —John Edgar Wideman
  • “In certain ways writing is a form of prayer.” —Denise Levertov
  • “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” —E.L. Doctorow
  • “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” —E.L. Doctorow
  • “Let's face it, writing is hell.” —William Styron
  • “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” —Thomas Mann
  • “Writing is 90 percent procrastination: reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials.” —Paul Rudnick
  • “Writing is a failure. Writing is not only useless, it's spoiled paper.” —Padget Powell
  • “Writing is very hard work and knowing what you're doing the whole time.” —Shelby Foote
  • “I think all writing is a disease. You can't stop it.” —William Carlos Williams
  • “Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one's luck.” —Iris Murdoch
  • “The less conscious one is of being ‘a writer,’ the better the writing.” —Pico Iyer
  • “Writing is…that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.” —Pico Iyer
  • “Writing is my dharma.” —Raja Rao
  • “Writing is a combination of intangible creative fantasy and appallingly hard work.” —Anthony Powell
  • “I think writing is, by definition, an optimistic act.” —Michael Cunningham
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