Gleanings from My Readings

"What is right to be done cannot be done too soon."
--Jane Austen, in Emma

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“ ‘The most celebrated poem by a women of the period,’ the title promises. . . . Do we rank the passion of Anne Elliot and Catherine Earnshaw?”
--Jerome McGann, in The Poetics of Sensibility

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“What’s difficult about getting old is remembering the way things used to be. There were such things as loyalty. The community hadn’t disintegrated. The individual had not been deified at the expense of everything around him. I don’t think that’s just an old codger, you know, wishing for the old days. . . . they were better. There was a lot of ugliness, but there was a lot more grace.”
--Paul Newman (1925-2008)

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“The more I read, the more I think about the question that a lot of us were asked as a kid: If you could have a dinner with ten people, who would you choose? You know the one—where people always picked Jesus and Gandhi. With reading, you’re able to have that dinner over and over and over, depending on what books you choose.”
--Josh Brolin, in Oprah magazine, October 2008

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“Is it not true that our thoughts, our prayers for ourselves and those we love, and our conversations are almost entirely aimed at getting rid of the negative at any cost—rather than that the negative might be faced with the proper attitude? . . . We are infiltrated by the world and its attitudes, rather than the perspective of the kingdom of God.”
--Francis A. Schaeffer, in True Spirituality

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From Carol Ann Duffy’s poem “Mrs. Midas”:

“The kitchen
filled with the smell of itself, relaxed, its steamy breath
gently blanching the windows.” (2-4)

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From Reed Whittemore’s poem “The High School Band”:

“A great many high school bands beat a great many drums,
And the silences at their partings are very deep.” (10-11)

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From David Lee’s poem “Tuesday Morning, Loading Pigs”:

“I sed then it was two things
I wouldn’t do when I grown up
warsh no dishes or load up hogs” (33-35)

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Happy Reading!