“[William] Blake called his sense of dedication a firm persuasion. To have a firm persuasion in our work-to feel that what we do is right for ourselves and good for the world at the exactly same time is one of the great triumphs of human existence.”
– David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea
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“He was for something—win-win negotiation. And he was also against something—life as a zero-sum game, meaning if you win, I lose. Herbie wouldn’t want to live that way even if it were true, but it wasn’t. He came to believe just the opposite: our fates are intertwined; the only way for me to win is for you to win, too.”
Rich Cohen, The Adventures of Herbie Cohen
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Art should satisfy both the creator and the consumer.
It is best to avoid self indulgence. No-one likes to hang out with a show-off.
I care about your time. As a writer, I try to avoid extraneous sentences because, as a reader, I don’t like busy work.
It’s nice when people get to the point. Some have the rare talent for storytelling: they can take us up and around the mountain. We are grateful for the momentary discombobulation if we are in the presence of a wayfinder. They’ll get us home safely.
I possess no such ability. I struggle to tell a joke because of my own impatience to get to the punch-line.
My writing has all the structure of paint by numbers.
I don’t want to get us lost, so I keep it simple.
But if you cast your eye over my paragraphs I hope I’ve avoided the empty spaces – home to dragons and other wild beasts who devour your patience.
I try to create well placed stepping stones for you to traverse.
I care about the quality of our conversations, that’s why I am careful to invite along two others to join us.
They got us started. I’ve allowed myself to interject with some thoughts. I hope you, dear reader, feel the compulsion to respond.
We have travelled together. Not far, certainly, but via a route that neither of us have travelled on before.
Now we are safely on the other side, I hope the trip has been worth it.
Would you like to turn around and have another go?
Conversations With Quotations 