February 18, 2014

Today is the birthday of Nikos Kazantzakis (1883 – 1957) who said:

“I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.”

and

“I hope nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.”

and

“True teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create their own.”

It is also the birthday of Wallace Stegner (1909 – 1993) who said:

“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed ... We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in.”

and

“[T]hat old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air ... Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.”

Happy Birthday to Toni Morrison (1931 - ) who said:

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”

and

“At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. You don't need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough.”

Today is the birthday of Audre Lorde (1934 – 1992) who said:

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

and

“I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.”

and

“Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge.”

It is also the birthday of Jean Auel (1936 - ) who said:

“You learn to write by writing, and by reading and thinking about how writers have created their characters and invented their stories. If you are not a reader, don't even think about being a writer.”

We could never forget the birthday of John Hughes (1950 – 2009) who said:

“We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all.”

and

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

and

“Those who say 'you only live once' have never read a book.”

Finally, it's the birthday of Douglas Rushkoff (1961 - ) who said:

“Computers don't kill books; people do.”

and

“Books have souls. Or so romantics like me tend to think.”