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		<title>Kafka, Franz -- Letter (1922-07-05) to Max Brod</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/kafka-franz/79871/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Oct 2025 15:31:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kafka, Franz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creativity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[damnation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[devil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fear]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Writing is a sweet and marvelous reward, but a reward for what? In the course of the night it became clear to me, as plain as a children&#8217;s show-and-tell lesson, that it is a reward for serving the devil. This descent down to the dark powers, this unleashing of ghosts by nature bound, these questionable [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Writing is a sweet and marvelous reward, but a reward for what? In the course of the night it became clear to me, as plain as a children&#8217;s show-and-tell lesson, that it is a reward for serving the devil. This descent down to the dark powers, this unleashing of ghosts by nature bound, these questionable embraces and whatever else may be going on down there, none of it remembered as one writes stories in the sunlight up above. Perhaps there are also different ways of writing, but I only know this one; at night, when fear keeps me from sleeping, I only know this one. </p>
<br><b>Franz Kafka</b> (1883-1924) Czech-Austrian Jewish writer<br>Letter (1922-07-05) to Max Brod 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Nightmare_of_Reason/AdaoYq7xuMQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22writing%20is%20a%20sweet%22" target="_blank">Source</a>)
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		<title>Holst, Gustav -- Letter (1921) to William Gillies Whitaker</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/holst-gustav/79200/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2025 17:28:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Holst, Gustav]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Never compose anything unless the not composing of it becomes a positive nuisance to you. In Gertrude Norman, Miram Shrifte (eds.), Letters of Composers (1946). Imogen Holst, his only child, notes the phrase in The Music of Gustav Holst (1951) as &#8220;his favourite piece of advice,&#8221; and in Gustav Holst: A Biography, ch. 11 (1969) [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Never compose anything unless the not composing of it becomes a positive nuisance to you.</p>
<br><b>Gustav Holst</b> (1874-1934) English composer, arranger and teacher <br>Letter (1921) to William Gillies Whitaker 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://archive.org/details/lettersofcompose00norm/page/342/mode/2up?q=%22becomes+a+positive+nuisance%22" target="_blank">Source</a>)
										<br><br><span class="cite">
						

In Gertrude Norman, Miram Shrifte (eds.), <i>Letters of Composers</i> (1946).  <br><br>

Imogen Holst, his only child, notes the phrase in <em><a href="https://archive.org/details/musicofgustavhol0000hols_i2h4/page/72/mode/2up?q=%22positive+nuisance%22">The Music of Gustav Holst</a></em> (1951) as "his favourite piece of advice," and in <i><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Gustav_Holst/fsWRaSBLy54C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=holst+%22becomes+a+positive+nuisance%22&pg=PT61&printsec=frontcover">Gustav Holst: A Biography</a></i>, ch. 11  (1969) as his referring to it as a "good rule."						</span>
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		<title>Shakespeare, William -- Henry V, Act 1, Prologue (1599)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/38398/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Jan 2024 20:48:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Shakespeare, William]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chorus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[introduction]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[setting]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[CHORUS: O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention! A kingdom for a stage, princes to act, And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="hangingindent">CHORUS: O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend<br />
The brightest heaven of invention!<br />
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,<br />
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!</p>
<p></p>
<br><b>William Shakespeare</b> (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet<br><i>Henry V</i>, Act 1, Prologue (1599) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/henry-v/read/#:~:text=O%2C%C2%A0for%C2%A0a%C2%A0muse%C2%A0of%C2%A0fire%C2%A0that%C2%A0would%C2%A0ascend%0A%C2%A0The%C2%A0brightest%C2%A0heaven%C2%A0of%C2%A0invention!%0A%C2%A0A%C2%A0kingdom%C2%A0for%C2%A0a%C2%A0stage%2C%C2%A0princes%C2%A0to%C2%A0act%2C%0A%C2%A0And%C2%A0monarchs%C2%A0to%C2%A0behold%C2%A0the%C2%A0swelling%C2%A0scene!" target="_blank">Source</a>)
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		<title>Oliver, Mary -- &#8220;Of Power and Time,&#8221; Blue Pastures (1995)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/oliver-mary/65820/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/oliver-mary/65820/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:18:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Oliver, Mary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.</p>
<br><b>Mary Oliver</b> (1935-2019) American poet<br>&#8220;Of Power and Time,&#8221; <i>Blue Pastures</i> (1995) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Blue_Pastures/u8qkC-PJFvMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22most%20regretful%20people%22" target="_blank">Source</a>)
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		<title>Martial -- Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 11, epigram  93 (11.93) (AD 96) [tr. Nixon (1911), &#8220;An Oversight&#8221;]</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/martial/65735/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/martial/65735/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Dec 2023 05:18:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Martial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bad luck]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fire]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The house of the bard Theodorus burned down! What an insult, O Muses, to you! The gods have done wrong: For the credit of song The bard &#8212; should have burned with it, too. &#160; [Pierios vatis Theodori flamma penates Abstulit. Hoc Musis et tibi, Phoebe, placet? O scelus, o magnum facinus crimenque deorum, Non [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The house of the bard Theodorus burned down!<br />
<span class="tab">What an insult, O Muses, to you!<br />
<span class="tab"><span class="tab">The gods have done wrong:<br />
<span class="tab"><span class="tab">For the credit of song<br />
The bard &#8212; should have burned with it, too.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<em>[Pierios vatis Theodori flamma penates<br />
Abstulit. Hoc Musis et tibi, Phoebe, placet?<br />
O scelus, o magnum facinus crimenque deorum,<br />
Non arsit pariter quod domus et dominus!]</em></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<br><b>Martial</b> (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]<br><i>Epigrams [Epigrammata]</i>, Book 11, epigram  93 (11.93) (AD 96) [tr. Nixon (1911), &#8220;An Oversight&#8221;] 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://archive.org/details/romanwitepigrams00mart/page/14/mode/2up?q=theodorus" target="_blank">Source</a>)
										<br><br><span class="cite">
						

"On Theodorus, a Bad Poet." (<a href="http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi1294.phi002.perseus-lat1:11.93">Source (Latin)</a>). Alternate translations:<br><br>

<blockquote>Flames Theodore's Pierian roofs did seize.<br>
<span class="tab">Can this Apollo, this the Muses, please?<br>
O oversight of the gods! O dire disaster!<br>
<span class="tab">To burn the harmless house, and spare the master!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Epigrams_of_Martial/LzXgAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22dire%20disaster%22">Killigrew</a> (1695)] </blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Poor poet Dogrel's house consum'd by fire?<br>
<span class="tab">Is the muse pleas'd? or father of the lyre?<br>
O cruel Fate! what injury you do,<br>
<span class="tab">To burn the house! and not the master too!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Select_Epigrams_of_Martial/guUNAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22poor%20poet%22">Hay</a> (1755), ep. 94]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>The poor poet Theodore's goods, in a flame,<br>
<span class="tab">Gave you, wicked Muses, and Phebus full glee.<br>
Ye sov'rain disposers, what sin and what shame,<br>
<span class="tab">That holder and house so disparted should be!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Epigrams_of_M_Val_Martial/vksOAAAAQAAJ?gbpv=1&bsq=%22on%20theodorus%22">Elphinston</a> (1782), Book 3, ep. 49]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Fitzgerald's house hath been on fire -- the Nine<br>
<span class="tab">All smiling saw that pleasant bonfire shine.<br>
Yet -- cruel Gods! Oh! ill-contrived disaster!<br>
<span class="tab">The house is burnt -- the house -- without the Master!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://archive.org/details/martialinenglish00mart/page/242/mode/2up?q=%22hath+been+on+fire%22">Byron</a> (c. 1820); referencing Irish/British poet, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thomas_Fitzgerald">William Thomas Fitzgerald</a> (1759-1829)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>The flames have destroyed the Pierian dwelling of the bard Theodorus. Is this agreeable to you, you muses, and you, Phoebus? Oh shame, oh great wrong and scandal of the gods, that house and householder were not burned together!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/martial_epigrams_book11.htm#:~:text=The%20flames%20have%20destroyed%20the%20Pierian%20dwelling%20of%20the%20bard%20Theodorus.%20Is%20this%20agreeable%20to%20you%2C%20you%20muses%2C%20and%20you%2C%20Phoebus%3F%20Oh%20shame%2C%20oh%20great%20wrong%20and%20scandal%20of%20the%20gods%2C%20that%20house%20and%20householder%20were%20not%20burned%20together!">Bohn's Classical</a> (1859)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>The poetic abode of bard Theodorus a fire has destroyed. Does this please you, ye Muses, and you, Phoebus? Oh, what guilt, oh, what a huge crime and scandal of the gods is here! House and master did! House and master did not burn together!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Epigrams/RIxiAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22poetic%20abode%22">Ker</a> (1919)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>A poet’s house consumed by fire!<br> 
<span class="tab">Phoebus and ye, the heavenly choir, <br>
What vengeance will ye now require <br>
<span class="tab">For such a fell disaster?<br>
How foul a deed, how black a shame! <br>
<span class="tab">Can men acquit the gods of blame <br>
When they delivered to the flame<br>
<span class="tab">The house and not its master?<br>
[tr. <a href="https://archive.org/details/martialtwelveboo0000tran/page/364/mode/2up?q=%22THE+GODS%E2%80%99+MISTAKE%22">Pott & Wright</a> (1921), "The Gods' Mistake"]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Where were ye, Muses, when in angry flame<br>
<span class="tab">Sank Pye's Pierian dwelling? Phoebus, shame!<br>
Oh cruel sin, o scandal to the sky,<br>
<span class="tab">To bake the Pye-dish and forget the Pye!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Martial_s_Epigrams/g35fAAAAMAAJ?gbpv=1&bsq=%22where%20were%20ye%22">Francis & Tatum</a> (1924), ep. 634; referring to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_James_Pye">Henry James Pye</a> (1745-1813), Poet Laureate of the UK]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Not a single trace remains<br>
<span class="tab">Of poet Theodorus' home.<br>
Everything completely burned,<br>
<span class="tab">Every last poetic tome!<br>
You Muses and Apollo too,<br>
<span class="tab">Now are you fully satisfied?<br>
O monstrous shame that when it burned<br>
<span class="tab">The poet was not trapped inside!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://archive.org/details/martialselectede0000unse/page/136/mode/2up?q=%22single+trace+remains%22">Marcellino</a> (1968)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Flames have gutted th' abode Pierian<br>
<span class="tab">Of the wide-renowned poet Theodorus.<br>
Didst thou permit this sacrilege, Apollo?<br>
<span class="tab">Where were ye, Muse's Chorus?<br>
Ay me, I fondly sight, that was a crime,<br>
<span class="tab">A wicked deed, a miserable disaster.<br>
Ye gods are much to blame: ye burnt the house<br>
<span class="tab">But failed to singe its master!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Epigrams_of_Martial/fZWq0MP5XQUC?gbpv=1&bsq=theodorus">Wender</a> (1980)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Ted's studio burnt down, with all his poems.<br>
<span class="tab">Have the Muses hung their heads?<br>
You bet, for it was criminal neglect<br>
<span class="tab">not also to have sautéed Ted.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://archive.org/details/selectedpoemstra00matt/page/138/mode/2up?q=%22ted%27s+studio+burnt%22">Matthews</a> (1992)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Fire has consumed the Pierian home of poet Theodoras. Does this please the Muses and you, Phoebus? Oh crime, oh monstrous villainy and reproach to heaven! -- that house and householder did not perish together.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://archive.org/details/martialepigrams0003unse/page/76/mode/2up?q=%22pierian+home%22">Shackleton Bailey</a> (1993)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Flames took the home of poet Theodorus.<br>
<span class="tab">Are the Muses and Phoebus pleased with this disaster?<br>
What a great crime and insult to the gods<br>
<span class="tab">not to have burned together home and master!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://archive.org/details/selectedepigrams0000mart_b6d3/page/94/mode/2up?q=%22poet+theodorus%22a">McLean</a> (2014)] </blockquote><br>
						</span>
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		<title>Sarton, May -- A World of Light, ch. 4 (1976)</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:23:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sarton, May]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friend]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[She became for me an island of light, fun, wisdom where I could run with my discoveries and torments and hopes at any time of day and find welcome. Referring to Edith Forbes Kennedy (1890-1942), a long-time mentor and &#8220;muse.&#8221;]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>She became for me an island of light, fun, wisdom where I could run with my discoveries and torments and hopes at any time of day and find welcome.</p>
<br><b>May Sarton</b> (1912-1995) Belgian-American poet, novelist, memoirist [pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton]<br><i>A World of Light</i>, ch. 4 (1976) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_World_of_Light/X2VVWd25Bh0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=sarton%20%22island%20of%20light%2C%20fun%2C%20wisdom%22&pg=PA90&printsec=frontcover&bsq=sarton%20%22island%20of%20light%2C%20fun%2C%20wisdom%22" target="_blank">Source</a>)
										<br><br><span class="cite">
						

Referring to Edith Forbes Kennedy (1890-1942), a long-time mentor and "muse."						</span>
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		<title>Prather, Hugh -- Notes to Myself (1970)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/prather-hugh/48822/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Sep 2021 18:36:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire must be not to write.]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire must be not to write.</p>
<br><b>Hugh Prather</b> (1938-2010) American minister, writer, counselor<br><i>Notes to Myself</i> (1970) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Notes_to_Myself/RlGbSSZLUEkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=prather%20%22not%20accompanied%20by%20actual%20writing%22&pg=PT81&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22actual%20writing%22" target="_blank">Source</a>)
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                <!-- DCH Modify the title to give the category (quote author) at the beginning of it. -->
		<title>Homer -- The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book  1, l.   1ff (1.1-5) (c. 700 BC) [tr. Fagles (1996)]</title>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Mar 2021 19:35:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns &#8230; driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy. Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds, many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea, fighting to save his life and bring [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns &#8230;<br />
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered<br />
<span class="tab">the hallowed heights of Troy.<br />
Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds,<br />
many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea,<br />
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.</p>
<p>[Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ<br />
πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσε·<br />
πολλῶν δ’ ἀνθρώπων ἴδεν ἄστεα καὶ νόον ἔγνω,<br />
πολλὰ δ’ ὅ γ’ ἐν πόντῳ πάθεν ἄλγεα ὃν κατὰ θυμόν,<br />
ἀρνύμενος ἥν τε ψυχὴν καὶ νόστον ἑταίρων.]</span></p>
<br><b>Homer</b> (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author<br><i>The Odyssey</i> [Ὀδύσσεια], Book  1, l.   1ff (1.1-5) (c. 700 BC) [tr. Fagles (1996)] 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.boyle.kyschools.us/UserFiles/88/The%20Odyssey.pdf" target="_blank">Source</a>)
										<br><br><span class="cite">
						

<a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0135%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1#text_main:~:text=%E1%BC%84%CE%BD%CE%B4%CF%81%CE%B1%20%CE%BC%CE%BF%CE%B9%20%E1%BC%94%CE%BD%CE%BD%CE%B5%CF%80%CE%B5%2C%20%CE%BC%CE%BF%E1%BF%A6%CF%83%CE%B1%2C%20%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CF%8D%CF%84%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BD%2C%20%E1%BD%83%CF%82,%E1%BC%A5%CE%BD%20%CF%84%CE%B5%20%CF%88%CF%85%CF%87%E1%BD%B4%CE%BD%20%CE%BA%CE%B1%E1%BD%B6%20%CE%BD%CF%8C%CF%83%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BD%20%E1%BC%91%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%AF%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BD.">Original Greek</a>. Alternate translations:<br><br>

<blockquote>The man, O Muse, inform, that many a way<br>
Wound with his wisdom to his wished stay;<br>
That wander’d wondrous far, when he the town<br>
Of sacred Troy had sack’d and shiver’d down;<br>
The cities of a world of nations,<br>
With all their manners, minds, and fashions,<br>
He saw and knew; at sea felt many woes,<br>
Much care sustain’d, to save from overthrows<br>
Himself and friends in their retreat for home;<br>
But so their fates he could not overcome.<br>
[tr. <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/48895/48895-h/48895-h.htm#:~:text=The%20man%2C%20O%20Muse%2C%20inform%2C%20that,their%20fates%20he%20could%20not%20overcome%2C">Chapman</a> (1616)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Tell me, O Muse, th’ adventures of the man<br>
That having sack’d the sacred town of Troy,<br>
Wander’d so long at sea; what course he ran<br>
By winds and tempests driven from his way:<br>
That saw the cities, and the fashions knew<br>
Of many men, but suffer’d grievous pain<br>
To save his own life, and bring home his crew.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/hobbes-the-english-works-vol-x-iliad-and-odyssey#Hobbes_0051-10_15152:~:text=Tell%20me%2C%20O%20Muse%2C%20th%E2%80%99%20adventures,life%2C%20and%20bring%20home%20his%20crew">Hobbes</a> (1675)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>The man for wisdom's various arts renown'd,<br>
Long exercised in woes, O Muse! resound;<br>
Who, when his arms had wrought the destined fall<br>
Of sacred Troy, and razed her heaven-built wall,<br>
Wandering from clime to clime, observant stray'd,<br>
Their manners noted, and their states survey'd,<br>
On stormy seas unnumber'd toils he bore,<br>
Safe with his friends to gain his natal shore.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Odyssey_(Pope)/Book_I#headernext:~:text=The%20man%20for%20wisdom's%20various%20arts,friends%20to%20gain%20his%20natal%20shore%3A">Pope</a> (1725)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Muse make the man thy theme, for shrewdness famed<br>
And genius versatile, who far and wide<br>
A Wand’rer, after Ilium overthrown,<br>
Discover’d various cities, and the mind<br>
And manners learn’d of men, in lands remote.<br>
He num’rous woes on Ocean toss’d, endured,<br>
Anxious to save himself, and to conduct<br>
His followers to their home.<br>
[tr. <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24269/24269-h/24269-h.htm#BOOK_I:~:text=Muse%20make%20the%20man%20thy%20theme%2C,His%20followers%20to%20their%20home%3B">Cowper</a> (1792)]</blockquote><br>




<blockquote>Sing me, O Muse, that hero wandering<br>
Who of men's minds did much experience reap,<br>
And knew the citied realms of many a king,<br>
Even from the hour he smote the Trojan keep.<br>
Also a weight of sorrows in the deep<br>
Brooding he bore, in earnest hope to save,<br>
'Mid hard emprise and labour all too steep,<br>
Himself and comrades from a watery grave --<br>
Whom yet he rescued not with zeal nor yearnings brave.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey_of_Homer/7-Eh5oFk6msC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover">Worsley</a> (1861), st. 1]</blockquote><br>






<blockquote>Tell me, O Muse, declare to me that man<br>
Tost too and fro by fate, who, when his arms<br>
Had laid Troy's holy city in the dust,<br>
Far wand'ring roam'd on many a tribe of men<br>
To bend his gaze, their minds and thoughts to learn.<br>
Grief upon grief encounter'd he, when, borne<br>
On ocean-waves, his life he carried off<br>
A prize from perils rescued, and would fain<br>
Have homeward led his brethren in arms.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey_of_Homer/RgULAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=odyssey%20musgrave&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22declare%20to%20me%20that%20man%22">Musgrave</a> (1869)] </blockquote><br>





<blockquote>Tell me, oh Muse, of the many-sided man,<br>
Who wandered far and wide full sore bestead,<br>
When had razed the mighty town of Troy:<br>
And of many a race of human-kind he saw<br>
The cities; and he learned their mind and ways:<br>
And on the deep fully many a woe he bore<br>
In his own bosom, while he strove to save<br>
His proper life, and his comrades' home-return.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Nearly_Literal_Translation_of_Homer_s/44YXAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=homer%20odyssey&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22tell%20me%20oh%20muse%22">Bigge-Wither</a> (1869)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Tell me, Muse, of that man, so ready at need, who wandered far and wide, after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy, and many were the men whose towns he saw and whose mind he learnt, yea, and many the woes he suffered in his heart upon the deep, striving to win his own life and the return of his company. Nay, but even so he saved not his company, though he desired it sore.<br>
[tr. <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1728/1728-h/1728-h.htm#:~:text=Tell%20me%2C%20Muse%2C%20of%20that%20man%2C,company%2C%20though%20he%20desired%20it%20sore.">Butcher/Lang</a> (1879)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Tell me, O Muse, of the Shifty, the man who wandered afar,<br>
After the Holy burg, Troy-town, he had wasted with war:<br>
He saw the towns of menfolk, and the mind of men did he learn;<br>
As he warded his life in the world, and his fellow-farers' return,<br>
Many a grief of heart on the deep-sea flood he bore,<br>
Nor yet might he save his fellows, for all that he longed for it sore.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey_of_Homer/VwcOAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=homer%20odyssey&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22tell%20me%2C%20o%20muse%22">Morris</a> (1887)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Speak to me, Muse, of the adventurous man who wandered long after he sacked the sacred citadel of Troy. Many the men whose towns he saw, whose ways he proved; and many a pang he bore in his breast at sea while struggling for his life and his men's safe return.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Odyssey/KYlBAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=homer%20odyssey&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22speak%20to%20me%20muse%22">Palmer</a> (1891)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Tell me, oh Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Odyssey_(Butler)/Book_I#pageindex_25:~:text=Tell%20me%2C%20oh%20Muse%2C%20of%20that,and%20bring%20his%20men%20safely%20home">Butler</a> (1898)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Tell me, O Muse, of that many-sided hero who traveled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the people with whose customs and thinking he was acquainted; many things he suffered at sea while seeking to save his own life and to achieve the safe homecoming of his companions.<br>
[tr. <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0218%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1#text_main:~:text=Tell%20me%2C%20O%20Muse%2C%20of%20that,safe%20homecoming%20%5Bnostos%5D%20of%20his%20companions">Butler</a> (1898), rev. Power/Nagy]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>That man, tell me O Muse the song of that man, that versatile man, who in very many ways veered from his path and wandered off far and wide, after he had destroyed the sacred citadel of Troy. Many different cities of many different people did he see, getting to know different ways of thinking. Many were the pains he suffered in his heart while crossing the sea struggling to merit the saving of his own life and his own homecoming as well as the homecoming of his comrades.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://chs.harvard.edu/primary-source/homeric-odyssey-sb/#main:~:text=That%20man%2C%20tell%20me%20O%20Muse,the%20homecoming%20of%20his%20comrades%20%5Bhetairoi%5D.">Butler</a> (1898), rev. Kim/McCray/Nagy/Power (2018)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy. Many were the men whose cities he saw and whose mind he learned, aye, and many the woes he suffered in his heart upon the sea, seeking to win his own life and the return of his comrades.<br>
[tr. <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136#text_main:~:text=Tell%20me%2C%20O%20Muse%2C%20of%20the,and%20the%20return%20of%20his%20comrades.">Murray</a> (1919)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>O Divine Poesy,<br>
Goddess-daughter of Zeus,<br>
Sustain for me<br>
This song of the various-minded man,<br>
Who after he had plundered<br>
The innermost citadel of hallowed Troy<br>
Was made to stray grievously <br>
About the coasts of men,<br>
The sport of their customs good or bad,<br>
While his heart<br>
Through all the seafaring<br>
Ached in an agony to redeem himself<br>
And bring his company safe home.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey/qhQAywOYz10C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=homer%20odyssey&pg=PA11&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22o%20divine%20poesy%22">Lawrence</a> (1932)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story<br>
of that man skilled in all ways of contending,<br>
the wandering, harried for years on end after he plundered the stronghold<br>
on the proud height of Troy.<br>
He saw the townlands<br>
and learned the minds of many distant men,<br>
and weathered many bitter nights and days<br>
in his deep heart at sea, while he fought only<br>
to save his life, to bring his shipmates home.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey/bafQVqR6O5kC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT5&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22sing%20in%20me%20muse%22">Fitzgerald</a> (1961)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven<br>
far journeys after he had sacked Troy's sacred citadel.<br>
Many were they whose cities he saw, whose minds he learned of,<br>
many the pains he suffered in his spirit on the wide sea,<br>
struggling for his own life and the homecoming of his companions.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey_of_Homer/OT7MUVjJ82wC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT34&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22tell%20me%20muse%22">Lattimore</a> (1965)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Muse, tell me of the man of many wiles,<br>
the man who wandered many paths of exile<br>
after he sacked Troy's sacred citadel.<br>
He saw the cities -- mapped the minds -- of many;<br>
and on the sea, his spirit suffered every <br>
adversity -- to keep his life intact;<br>
to bring his comrades back.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey_of_Homer/ORyo8qAA-CQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=odyssey%20%22Men%20are%20so%20quick%20to%20blame%20the%20gods%22&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22Muse%20tell%20me%22">Mandelbaum</a> (1990)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Speak, Memory -- Of the cunning hero,<br>
The wanderer, blown off course time and again<br>
After he plundered Troy's sacred heights. Speak<br>
Of all the cities he saw , the minds he grasped,<br>
The suffering deep in his heart at sea<br>
As he struggled to survive and bring his men home.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Odyssey/yIFAC9r4NW0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=homer%20odyssey&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22speak%20memory%22">Lombardo</a> (2000)]</blockquote><br>




<blockquote>Tell me, Muse, of the man versatile and resourceful, who wandered many a sea-mile afer he ransacked Troy's holy city. Many the men whose towns he observed, whose minds he discovered, many the pains in his heart he suffered, traversing the seaway, fighting for his own life and a way back home for his comrades.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey/EC9coOuym-kC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA48&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22of%20the%20man%20versatile%22">Merrill</a> (2002)]</blockquote><br>






<blockquote>Tell me, Muse, the story of that resourceful man who was driven to wander far and wide after he had sacked the holy citadel of Troy. He saw the cities of many people and he learnt their ways. He suffered great anguish on the high seas in his struggles to preserve his life and bring his comrades home.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey/U2Jovv1NuMsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT60&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22story%20of%20that%20resourceful%20man%22">DCH Rieu</a> (2002)]</blockquote><br>






<blockquote>Tell me, Muse, of the man of many turns, who was driven<br>
far and wide after he had sacked the sacred city of Troy.<br>
Many were the men whose cities he saw, and learnt their minds,<br>
many the sufferings on the open sea he endured in his heart,<br>
struggling for his own life and his companions' homecoming.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey/o8dLDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=homer%20odyssey&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22tell%20me%20muse%22">Verity</a> (2016)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Tell me about a complicated man.<br>
Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost<br>
when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy,<br>
and where he went, and who he met, the pain<br>
he suffered in the storms at sea, and how<br>
he worked to save his life and bring his men<br>
back home.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey/PpJYDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=wilson%20odyssey&pg=PT114&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22tell%20me%20about%20a%20complicated%22">Wilson</a> (2018)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>The man, Muse -- tell me about that resourceful man, who wandered<br>
far and wide, when he'd sacked Troy's sacred citadel:<br>
many men's townships he saw, and learned their ways of thinking,<br>
many the griefs he suffered at heart on the open sea,<br>
battling for his own life and his comrades' homecoming.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odyssey/BUFJDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA27&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%22about%20that%20resourceful%20man%22">Green</a> (2018)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Muse, speak to me now of that resourceful man<br>
who wandered far and wide after ravaging<br>
the sacred citadel of Troy. He came to see<br>
many people’s cities, where he learned their customs,<br>
while on the sea his spirit suffered many torments,<br>
as he fought to save his life and lead his comrades home.<br>
[tr. <a href="http://johnstoniatexts.x10host.com/homer/odyssey1html.html#:~:text=Muse%2C%20speak%20to%20me%20now%20of%20that%20resourceful%20man">Johnston</a> (2019)]</blockquote><br>

						</span>
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		<title>Thomas, Caitlin -- Not Quite Posthumous Letter to My Daughter (1963)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/thomas-caitlin/43005/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/thomas-caitlin/43005/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2020 17:28:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Thomas, Caitlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[author]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[depression]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The wretched Artist himself is alternatively the lowest worm that ever crawled when no fire is in him: or the loftiest God that ever sang when the fire is going.]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The wretched Artist himself is alternatively the lowest worm that ever crawled when no fire is in him: or the loftiest God that ever sang when the fire is going. </p>
<p><a href="https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Thomas-wretched-artist-lowest-worm-no-fire-loftiest-god-fire-going-wist_info-quote.png"><img alt="" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" src="https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Thomas-wretched-artist-lowest-worm-no-fire-loftiest-god-fire-going-wist_info-quote.png" alt="" width="800" height="940" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43006" srcset="https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Thomas-wretched-artist-lowest-worm-no-fire-loftiest-god-fire-going-wist_info-quote.png 800w, https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Thomas-wretched-artist-lowest-worm-no-fire-loftiest-god-fire-going-wist_info-quote-255x300.png 255w, https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Thomas-wretched-artist-lowest-worm-no-fire-loftiest-god-fire-going-wist_info-quote-768x902.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a></p>
<br><b>Caitlin Thomas</b> (1913-1994) British author, wife of Dylan Thomas [née Macnamara]<br><i>Not Quite Posthumous Letter to My Daughter</i> (1963) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Not_Quite_Posthumous_Letter_to_My_Daught/cQZKAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22The%20wretched%20Artist%20himself%22" target="_blank">Source</a>)
				]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Bowen, Elizabeth -- The Last September, Preface (1929)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/bowen-elizabeth/42911/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/bowen-elizabeth/42911/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2020 15:08:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bowen, Elizabeth]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The writer, like a swimmer caught by an undertow, is borne in an unexpected direction. He is carried to a subject which has awaited him &#8212; a subject sometimes no part of his conscious plan. Reality, the reality of sensation, has accumulated where it was least sought. To write is to be captured &#8212; captured [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The writer, like a swimmer caught by an undertow, is borne in an unexpected direction. He is carried to a subject which has awaited him &#8212; a subject sometimes no part of his conscious plan. Reality, the reality of sensation, has accumulated where it was least sought. To write is to be captured &#8212; captured by some experience to which one may have given hardly a thought.</p>
<br><b>Elizabeth Bowen</b> (1899-1973) Irish author<br><i>The Last September</i>, Preface (1929) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Afterthought/ZDxaAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22swimmer%20caught%20by%20an%20undertow%22" target="_blank">Source</a>)
				]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Connolly, Cyril -- &#8220;Writers and Society, 1940-3&#8221; (1943), The Condemned Playground (1946)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/connolly-cyril/42607/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/connolly-cyril/42607/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2020 19:37:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Connolly, Cyril]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[In relation to his public, the artist of to-day [&#8230;] walks at first with his companions, till one day he falls through a hole in the brambles, and from that moment is following the dark rapids of an underground river which may sometimes flow so near the surface that the laughing picnic parties are heard [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In relation to his public, the artist of to-day [&#8230;] walks at first with his companions, till one day he falls through a hole in the brambles, and from that moment is following the dark rapids of an underground river which may sometimes flow so near the surface that the laughing picnic parties are heard above, only to re-immerse itself in the solitude of the limestone and carry him along its winding tunnel, until it gushes out through the misty creeper-hung cave which he has always believed to exist, and sets him back in the sun. </p>
<br><b>Cyril Connolly</b> (1903-1974) English intellectual, literary critic and writer.<br>&#8220;Writers and Society, 1940-3&#8221; (1943), <i>The Condemned Playground</i> (1946) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Horizon/pm0EAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22following%20the%20dark%20rapids%22" target="_blank">Source</a>)
				]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Dillard, Annie -- Living by Fiction (1983)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/dillard-annie/40524/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/dillard-annie/40524/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Feb 2020 19:51:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Dillard, Annie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The art object is always passive in relation to its audience. It is alarmingly active, however, in relation to its creator. Far from being like a receptacle in which you, the artist, drop your ideas, and far from being like a lump of clay which you pummel until it fits your notion of an ashtray, [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The art object is always passive in relation to its audience. It is alarmingly active, however, in relation to its creator. Far from being like a receptacle in which you, the artist, drop your ideas, and far from being like a lump of clay which you pummel until it fits your notion of an ashtray, the art object is more like an enthusiastic and ill-trained Labrador retriever which yanks you into traffic.</p>
<br><b>Annie Dillard</b> (b. 1945) American author<br><i>Living by Fiction</i> (1983) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Living_by_Fiction/lfrXAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=yanks" target="_blank">Source</a>)
										<br><br><span class="cite">
						

Often paraphrased, "Art is like an ill-trained Labrador retriever that drags you out into traffic."
						</span>
					]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Serling, Rod -- &#8220;Rod Serling: The Facts of Life,&#8221; Interview with Linda Brevelle (4 Mar 1975)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/serling-rod/37363/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/serling-rod/37363/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Jul 2017 21:38:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Serling, Rod]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Why do I write? I guess that&#8217;s been asked of every writer. I don&#8217;t know. It isn&#8217;t any massive compulsion. I don&#8217;t feel, you know, God dictated that I should write. You know, thunder rends the sky and a bony finger comes down from the clouds and says, &#8220;You. You write. You&#8217;re the anointed.&#8221; I [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Why do I write? I guess that&#8217;s been asked of every writer. I don&#8217;t know. It isn&#8217;t any massive compulsion. I don&#8217;t feel, you know, God dictated that I should write. You know, thunder rends the sky and a bony finger comes down from the clouds and says, &#8220;You. You write. You&#8217;re the anointed.&#8221; I never felt that. I suppose it&#8217;s part compulsion, part a channel for what your brain is churning up.</p>
<br><b>Rod Serling</b> (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator <br>&#8220;Rod Serling: The Facts of Life,&#8221; Interview with Linda Brevelle (4 Mar 1975) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="http://www.rodserling.com/brevelleint.htm" target="_blank">Source</a>)
				]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Hurston, Zora Neale -- Dust Tracks on a Road, ch. 8 (1942)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/hurston-zora-neale/37272/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/hurston-zora-neale/37272/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jun 2017 20:50:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Hurston, Zora Neale]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you. Sometimes misattributed to Maya Angelou.]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you. </p>
<p><a href="https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Hurston-no-agony-bearing-untold-story-inside-you-wist_info-quote.png"><img alt="" decoding="async" src="https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Hurston-no-agony-bearing-untold-story-inside-you-wist_info-quote.png" alt="" width="900" height="670" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37273" srcset="https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Hurston-no-agony-bearing-untold-story-inside-you-wist_info-quote.png 900w, https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Hurston-no-agony-bearing-untold-story-inside-you-wist_info-quote-300x223.png 300w, https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Hurston-no-agony-bearing-untold-story-inside-you-wist_info-quote-768x572.png 768w, https://wist.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Hurston-no-agony-bearing-untold-story-inside-you-wist_info-quote-60x45.png 60w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /></a></p>
<br><b>Zora Neale Hurston</b> (1891-1960) American writer, folklorist, anthropologist<br><i>Dust Tracks on a Road</i>, ch. 8 (1942) 
														<br><br><span class="cite">
						

Sometimes misattributed to Maya Angelou.
						</span>
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		<title>Bronte, Charlotte -- Letter to G. H. Lewes (6 Nov 1847)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/bronte-charlotte/36759/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/bronte-charlotte/36759/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 15 Apr 2017 21:29:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bronte, Charlotte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[experience]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[You advise me, too, not to stray far from the ground of experience, as I become weak when I enter the region of fiction; and you say, &#8220;real experience is perennially interesting, and to all men.&#8221; I feel that this also is true; but, dear Sir, is not the real experience of each individual very [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You advise me, too, not to stray far from the ground of experience, as I become weak when I enter the region of fiction; and you say, &#8220;real experience is perennially interesting, and to all men.&#8221; I feel that this also is true; but, dear Sir, is not the real experience of each individual very limited? And, if a writer dwells upon that solely or principally, is he not in danger of repeating himself, and also of becoming an egotist? Then, too, imagination is a strong, restless faculty, which claims to be heard and exercised: are we to be quite deaf to her cry, and insensate to her struggles? When she shows us bright pictures, are we never to look at them, and try to reproduce them? And when she is eloquent, and speaks rapidly and urgently in our ear, are we not to write to her dictation?</p>
<br><b>Charlotte Brontë</b> (1816-1855) British novelist [pseud. Currer Bell]<br>Letter to G. H. Lewes (6 Nov 1847) 
								]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Bell, Alexander Graham -- Speech (1891)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/bell-alexander-graham/33300/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/bell-alexander-graham/33300/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:56:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bell, Alexander Graham]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The inventor &#8230; looks upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to improve whatever he sees, he wants to benefit the world; he is haunted by an idea. The spirit of invention possesses him, seeking materialization. On a plaque at the entrance to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The inventor &#8230; looks upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to improve whatever he sees, he wants to benefit the world; he is haunted by an idea. The spirit of invention possesses him, seeking materialization.</p>
<br><b>Alexander Graham Bell</b> (1847-1922) Scottish-American scientist, inventor, engineer<br>Speech (1891) 
														<br><br><span class="cite">
						

On a plaque at the entrance to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada.						</span>
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		<title>Lewis, Sinclair -- (Attributed)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/lewis-sinclair/31628/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2015 14:57:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lewis, Sinclair]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[It is impossible to discourage the real writers &#8212; they don&#8217;t give a damn what you say, they&#8217;re going to write.]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It is impossible to discourage the real writers &#8212; they don&#8217;t give a damn what you say, they&#8217;re going to write.</p>
<br><b>Sinclair Lewis</b> (1885-1951) American novelist, playwright<br>(Attributed) 
								]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Thoreau, Henry David -- Journal (10 Feb 1852)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/28934/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2015 12:58:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Thoreau, Henry David]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Write while the heat is in you. When the farmer burns a hole in his yoke, he carries the hot iron quickly from the fire to the wood, for every moment is less effectual to penetrate (pierce) it. It must be used instantly or it is useless. The writer who postpones the recording of his [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Write while the heat is in you. When the farmer burns a hole in his yoke, he carries the hot iron quickly from the fire to the wood, for every moment is less effectual to penetrate (pierce) it. It must be used instantly or it is useless. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.</p>
<br><b>Henry David Thoreau</b> (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer<br>Journal (10 Feb 1852) 
								]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Lennon, John -- Interview, Playboy (Sep 1980)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/lennon-john/28755/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/lennon-john/28755/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2015 12:15:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lennon, John]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Songwriting is about getting the demon out of me. It&#8217;s like being possessed. You try to go to sleep, but the song won&#8217;t let you. So you have to get up and make it into something, and then you&#8217;re allowed to sleep. It&#8217;s always in the middle of the bloody night, or when you&#8217;re half-awake [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Songwriting is about getting the demon out of me.  It&#8217;s like being possessed.  You try to go to sleep, but the song won&#8217;t let you.  So you have to get up and make it into something, and then you&#8217;re allowed to sleep.  It&#8217;s always in the middle of the bloody night, or when you&#8217;re half-awake or tired, when your critical faculties are switched off.  So letting go is what the whole game is.</p>
<br><b>John Lennon</b> (1940-1980) English rock musician, singer, songwriter <br>Interview, <i>Playboy</i> (Sep 1980) 
								]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Bradbury, Ray -- &#8220;How to Keep and Feed a Muse,&#8221; The Writer (1961-07)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/bradbury-ray/27063/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2014 13:06:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bradbury, Ray]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ability]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The Muse was suddenly there for Dad. The Truth lay easy in his mind. The Subconscious lay saying its say, untouched, and flowing off his tongue. As we must learn to do in our writing. As we can learn from every man or woman or child around us when, touched and moved, they tell of [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="tab">The Muse was suddenly there for Dad.<br />
<span class="tab">The Truth lay easy in his mind.<br />
<span class="tab">The Subconscious lay saying its say, untouched, and flowing off his tongue.<br />
<span class="tab">As we must learn to do in our writing.<br />
<span class="tab">As we can learn from every man or woman or child around us when, touched and moved, they tell of something they loved or hated this day, yesterday, or some other day long past. At a given moment, the fuse, after sputtering wetly, flares and the fireworks begin.<br />
<span class="tab">Oh, it&#8217;s limping crude hard work for many, with language in their way. But I have heard farmers tell about their very first wheat crop on their first farm after moving from another state, and if it wasn&#8217;t Robert Frost talking, it was his cousin, five times removed. I have heard locomotive engineers talk about America in the tones of Thomas Wolfe who rode our country with his style as they ride it in their steel. I have heard mothers tell of the long night with their firstborn when they were afraid that they and the baby might die. And I have heard my grandmother speak of her first ball when she was seventeen. And they were all, when their souls grew warm, poets.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<br><b>Ray Bradbury</b> (1920-2012) American writer, futurist, fabulist<br>&#8220;How to Keep and Feed a Muse,&#8221; <i>The Writer</i> (1961-07) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://archive.org/details/zeninartofwritin0000brad/page/36/mode/2up?q=%22touched+and+moved%22" target="_blank">Source</a>)
										<br><br><span class="cite">
						

Reprinted in Bradbury, <i>Zen in the Art of Writing</i> (1990).						</span>
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		<title>Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), &#8220;Wealth,&#8221; The Conduct of Life, ch.  3</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/25144/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:28:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Emerson, Ralph Waldo]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Art is a jealous mistress, and, if a man have a genius for painting, poetry, music, architecture, or philosophy, he makes a bad husband and an ill provider. Based on a course of lectures, &#8220;The Conduct of Life,&#8221; delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Art is a jealous mistress, and, if a man have a genius for painting, poetry, music, architecture, or philosophy, he makes a bad husband and an ill provider.</p>
<br><b>Ralph Waldo Emerson</b> (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet<br>Essay (1860), &#8220;Wealth,&#8221; <i>The Conduct of Life</i>, ch.  3 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/emerson/4957107.0006.001/1:9?rgn=div1;view=fulltext#:~:text=Art%20is%20a%20jealous%20mistress%2C%20and%20if%20a%20man%20have%20a%20genius%20for%20painting%2C%20poetry%2C%20music%2C%20architecture%20or%20philosophy%2C%20he%20makes%20a%20bad%20husband%20and%20an%20ill%20provider" target="_blank">Source</a>)
										<br><br><span class="cite">
						

Based on a course of lectures, "The Conduct of Life," delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).
						</span>
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		<title>Holland, Josiah G. -- Lessons in Life, Lesson 1 &#8220;Moods and Frames of Mind&#8221; (1861) [as Timothy Titcomb]</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/holland-josiah-g/23659/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/holland-josiah-g/23659/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jan 2014 13:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Holland, Josiah G.]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[There is a popular hallucination that makes of authors a romantic people who are entirely dependent upon moods and moments of inspiration for the power to labor in their peculiar way. Authors are supposed to write when they &#8220;feel like it,&#8221; and at no other time. Visions of Byron with a gin-bottle at his side, [&#8230;]]]></description>
        <!-- DCH Insert author info (category description) then (Source) and then put the extra info (MORE) below that. -->
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There is a popular hallucination that makes of authors a romantic people who are entirely dependent upon moods and moments of inspiration for the power to labor in their peculiar way. Authors are supposed to write when they &#8220;feel like it,&#8221; and at no other time. Visions of Byron with a gin-bottle at his side, and a beautiful woman hanging over his shoulder, dashing off a dozen stanzas of Childe Harold at a sitting, flit through the brains of sentimental youth. We hear of women who are seized suddenly by an idea, as if it were a colic, or a flea, often at midnight, and are obliged to rise and dispose of it in some way. We are told of very delicate girls who carry pencils and cards with them, to take the names and address of such angels as may visit them in out-of-the-way places. We read of poets who go on long sprees, and after recovery retire to their rooms and work night and day, eating not and sleeping little, and in some miraculous way producing wonderful literary creations. The mind of a literary man is supposed to be like a shallow summer brook, that turns a mill. There is no water except when it rains, and the weather being very fickle, it is never known when there will be water. Sometimes, however, there comes a freshet, and then the mill runs night and day, until the water subsides, and another dry time comes on.</p>
<p>Now, while I am aware, as every writer must be, that the brain works very much better at some times than it does at others, I can declare without reservation, that no man who depends upon moods for the power to write can possibly accomplish much. I know men who rely upon their moods, alike for the disposition and the ability to write, but they are, without exception, lazy and inefficient men. They never have accomplished much, and they never will accomplish much. </p>
<br><b>J. G. Holland</b> (1819-1881) American novelist, poet, editor [Josiah Gilbert Holland; pseud. Timothy Titcomb]<br><i>Lessons in Life</i>, Lesson 1 &#8220;Moods and Frames of Mind&#8221; (1861) [as Timothy Titcomb] 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8932/pg8932.html" target="_blank">Source</a>)
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		<title>Vidal, Gore -- &#8220;Gore Vidal,&#8221; interview by Gerald Clarke (1974)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/vidal-gore/19176/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/vidal-gore/19176/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Oct 2012 11:46:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Vidal, Gore]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[First coffee, then a bowel movement. Then the Muse joins me.In The Paris Review Interviews: Writers at Work, 5th series (1981)]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>First coffee, then a bowel movement. Then the Muse joins me.</p>
<br><b>Gore Vidal</b> (1925-2012) American novelist, dramatist, critic<br>&#8220;Gore Vidal,&#8221; interview by Gerald Clarke (1974) 
														<br><br><span class="cite">
						In <em>The Paris Review Interviews: Writers at Work,</em> 5th series (1981)						</span>
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                <!-- DCH Modify the title to give the category (quote author) at the beginning of it. -->
		<title>Thoreau, Henry David -- Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 18 &#8220;Conclusion&#8221; (1854)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/5676/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:45:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Thoreau, Henry David]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accomplishment]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Drive a nail home and clinch it so faithfully that you can wake up in the night and think of your work with satisfaction, &#8212; a work at which you would not be ashamed to invoke the Muse.]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Drive a nail home and clinch it so faithfully that you can wake up in the night and think of your work with satisfaction, &#8212; a work at which you would not be ashamed to invoke the Muse.</p>
<br><b>Henry David Thoreau</b> (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer<br><i>Walden; or, Life in the Woods</i>, ch. 18 &#8220;Conclusion&#8221; (1854) 
									<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Walden_(1854)_Thoreau/Conclusion#:~:text=Drive%20a%20nail%20home%20and%20clinch%20it%20so%20faithfully%20that%20you%20can%20wake%20up%20in%20the%20night%20and%20think%20of%20your%20work%20with%20satisfaction%2C%E2%80%94a%20work%20at%20which%20you%20would%20not%20be%20ashamed%20to%20invoke%20the%20Muse." target="_blank">Source</a>)
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