Quotations Weblog

Here we go again in the education of Laura Moncur. Walt Whitman was yet another name stored in my memory without a face or any other information, save that he was a poet and probably said many profound things. Little did I know this was the man who coined the phrase “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” A contemporary of Abraham Lincoln, he was a medical assistant in the Civil War and a emotionally patriotic man.

Some of this week’s quotes are longer than normal, but it is entirely necessary to preserve the meaning. Dive into the poetry of Walt Whitman and learn with me.

Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.

“The poet judges not as a judge judges but as the sun falling around a helpless thing.”

“A child said What is grass? fetching it to one with full hands
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of the hopeful green stuff woven.
of I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt,
Bearing the owner’s name someway in the corners,
that we may see and remark, and say Whose?…
And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.”

Song of Myself, 1855

“Nothing endures but personal qualities.”

“Come lovely and soothing death,
Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving,
In the day, in the night, to all, to each,
Sooner or later, delicate death.”

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d, 1865-1866

“Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.”

Song of the Open Road

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself.”

Song of Myself, 1855

“I dream’d in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth,
I dream’d that was the new city of Friends.”

I Dream’d in a Dream

“Full of life now, compact, visible,
I, forty year old the eighty-third year of the States,
To one a century hence or any number of centuries hence,
To you yet unborn these, seeking you.”

Full of life now

• From Noon to Starry Night : A Life of Walt Whitman Paperback by Philip Callow – A biography of the great American poet.
• A Reader’s Guide to Walt Whitman Paperback by Gay Wilson Allen – Since almost all of his works are available online, here is a guide to helping you understand it.
• Walt Whitman’s America : A Cultural Biography Paperback by David S. Reynolds – A biography linking Whitman to America in more ways than merely geography.
• Masculine Landscapes : Walt Whitman and the Homoerotic Text Hardcover by Byrne R. S. Fone – An interesting analysis of Whitman’s work based on the premise: What are the “consequences that homosexual desire had for Whitman’s text?”

• The Poetry of Walt Whitman – A biography and lots of links, including one to Whitmanland (I don’t even want to know). Provided by Globalink.

This is one of the two holidays in the United States that worships the dead (Halloween being the other). I think about my culture with disdain regarding these holidays because most of the population wouldn’t agree with the notion that Americans worship the dead. I live in a society that considers ancestor worship a barbaric and pagan rite, yet is obsessed with genealogy. I live in a society that preaches against making offerings to the dead, yet lays flowers on the graves of their loved ones. I live in a society that condemns the worship of the dead, yet holds elaborate and costly funerals and burials. I am ashamed of the duality of my culture. I believe that Memorial Day is an honorable and beautiful holiday and ancestor worship is an honorable and beautiful duty.

Memorial Day is a fairly recent occurrence (it started after the Civil War to commemorate the fallen heros), but ancestor worship is a practice that has been around since the dawn of man. Many consider it the first religion. So when you place the mums and lilies on the graves of your departed, feel a connection not only to them, but to the ages of humans who have experienced your loss as deeply as you do, from eons past.

Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.

“Hail to you gods, on that day of the great reckoning. Behold me, I have come to you, without sin, without guilt, without evil, without a witness against me, without one whom I have wronged. I am one pure of mouth, pure of hands.”

The Book of the Dead, The Address to the Gods, 1700-1000 B.C.

• Memorial Day Hardcover by Lynda Sorensen – A brief history of the holiday. Ironically, the only books that discuss this celebration in detail are classified as juvenile literature.
• The Book of Days : A Compendium of Celebrations, Common and Arcane Paperback by Guen Sublette – A collection of the holidays from many cultures (including Memorial Day). Includes information about the celebrations as well as the history to special (and not so special) days throughout our year.
• Israel’s Beneficent Dead : Ancestor Cult and Necromancy in Ancient Israelite Religion and Tradition Paperback by Brian B. Schmidt – The history of death worship in the Israelite religion of ancient times.
• The Cult of the Dead in a Chinese Village Hardcover by Emily Martin, Emily M Ahern – Ancestor worship in China and its history.

• Bob Niemeier’s Ancestor Worship Page – This site has tons of links to various genealogy sources. Includes searchable databases, cemetery and gravesites, and professional genealogists.

A couple of years ago, Spike Lee released his movie about Malcolm X. There was a lot of hype surrounding that movie, and not much said about the man it concerned. There were many news clips showing a man with a strong voice talking angrily into a microphone. There was a lot of talk about his leanings toward violence and the detrimental effect his speeches had on the equal rights movement.

I really don’t know what to think about Malcolm X. The media has portrayed him as a violent man, yet all the quotations that I could find from him were things I agree with completely. If I were to judge this man, solely on the quotations that I was able to find for him (striking completely his strong and angry voice from my memory), I would laud him. Here is a selection of quotations from Malcolm X.

Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.

“Power never takes a back step – only in the face of more power.”

Malcolm X Speaks, 1965

• The Autobiography of Malcolm X Paperback by Alex Haley – Read about the life of Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) written by the man who wrote Roots.
• Soul on Ice Paperback by Eldridge Cleaver – This book is a collection of the memoirs of Black Panther activist, Eldridge Cleaver, another man of the era that drastically affected the civil rights movement.
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X Audio Cassette by Alex Haley – Listen to the life of Malcolm while driving in your car, and you will gather the wisdom that is still useful today, regardless of your skin color.
• The Death and Life of Malcolm X Paperback by Peter Louis Goldman – Another biography of the life of Malcolm X from a senior editor of Newsweek. This book includes information regarding his assasination and the accomplices.

• The Malcolm X Interview – Playboy interview of Malcolm X by Alex Haley. Read his words for yourself here.

On May 13, 1940, Winston Churchill said, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” I wasn’t the first profound thing said by this man, and it certainly wasn’t the last. In my mind, I group Winston Churchill with Franklin D. Roosevelt. That is semi-logical, considering they were both world leaders at the same time, both fighting on the same side of a war that was raging before I was present on earth. Unfortunately for me, the connection goes deeper with me to the point that they are almost the same man in my mind.

Quick quiz: Who said, “All we have to fear is fear itself.”? You’re right, it was Roosevelt, but Churchill is everyone’s second guess. Enjoy the following quotations from Winston Churchill and learn a little more about this man. Then, all of us will be able to see him as an individual and be able to distinguish him from the other major players of World War II. (Not that I confused him with Hitler or Mussolini, mind you.)

Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.

“I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

Speech made to House of Commons on May 13, 1940, three days after becoming Prime Minister.

• Churchill in His Own Voice Audio Cassette – These are not actual recordings of Winston Churchill’s speeches (minor disappointment for me here), but rather Churchill’s memoirs read by Sir Lawrence Olivier. If I had to choose, I would still choose Churchill himself, but the acclaimed Olivier is good enough for me. Learn about Churchill’s life (also includes famous speeches by Hitler, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Truman).
• The Wit and Wisdom of Winston Churchill Paperback by James C. Humes, Richard Milhous Nixon – You thought I had a lot of quotations on this page, but you were wrong. Here is a book with over 1000 quotations and anecdotes from Winston Churchill. If you liked this week’s edition, you love this book.
• Triumph and Tragedy (The Second World War) Hardcover by Winston Leonard Spencer, Sir, Churchill, Winston S. Churchill – This is volume one of a three volume set chronicling World War II. The historical view of the world in which Churchill lived.
• Never Give in : The Extraordinary Character of Winston Churchill Hardcover by Stephen Mansfield, George Grant – A biography of Winston Churchill. Find out the details of his life, because every life has a story. (oops! That’s for A&E to tell you.)

• The London School – Winston Churchill - Lots of Info Here. This site contains links to other sites, writings about and by Winston Churchill and a videography (list of videos about and including him).

I knew his name because it was the kind of tidbit of information that smart people knew. It was a lot like playing piano or understanding Calculus. Smart people mention Kierkegaard, Sartre and Voltaire. I wanted to be a smart person, so I learned how to pronounce his name correctly, connected it with the concept of existentialism, and went on my merry way, knowing nothing of the man.

Then something happened when I became obsessed with Ayn Rand. I decided that her philosophy of life was the only one that worked for me. All of a sudden, all other philosophies became a source of ridicule and disdain to me. I turned my nose up to Kierkegaard and Sartre (but not Voltaire, who could hate him?). Yet, I still knew less of the man than when I began the journey.

Now, my mind has opened a crack (not the skull, just the mind set). I am now able to learn about the man whose name I dropped like a handkerchief and dropped like a lead weight. Explore the following links and books and make your own decision.

Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

• Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard Paperback
• Papers and Journals : A Selection by Soren Kierkegaard Paperback – Many great quotes came from his journals. This book provides a selection of some of his more interesting journal entries.
• Concept of Irony by Soren Kierkegaard Paperback
• Short Life of Kierkegaard Paperback by J.A. Lowrie, Walter Lowrie – A biography of Soren Kierkegaard. The original publication date of this book was 1942, and they are still printing it today.

• The Kierkegaarden – A site which includes a collection of quotations, links to other sites and a detailed biography.