β
So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.
β
β
Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
β
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books.
β
β
Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
β
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, 'Where have I gone wrong'.
Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night.
β
β
Charles M. Schulz
β
A man's true character comes out when he's drunk.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
I always like walking in the rain, so no one can see me crying.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have. Good and bad.
β
β
Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
β
Not everyone has a sob story, Charlie, and even if they do, it's no excuse.
β
β
Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
β
Magic
Sandraβs seen a leprechaun,
Eddie touched a troll,
Laurie danced with witches once,
Charlie found some goblins gold.
Donald heard a mermaid sing,
Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known
I've had to make myself.
β
β
Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends)
β
Mr. Wonka: "Donβt forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted."
Charlie Bucket: "What happened?"
Mr. Wonka: "He lived happily ever after.
β
β
Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
β
One day, when I am a braver man, I will tell her these things, and then I will look her in the eye tell her I love her and ask her to be only mine. But until that day, we're just friends.
β
β
Charlie Huston (Already Dead (Joe Pitt, #1))
β
Asleep by the Smiths
Vapour Trail by Ride
Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel
A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum
Dear Prudence by the Beatles
Gypsy by Suzanne Vega
Nights in White Satin by the Moody Blues
Daydream by Smashing Pumpkins
Dusk by Genesis (before Phil Collins was even in the band!)
MLK by U2
Blackbird by the Beatles
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
Asleep by the Smiths (again!)
-Charlie's mixtape
β
β
Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
β
Don't be ridiculous, Charlie, people love the parents who beat their kids in department stores. It's the ones who just let their kids wreak havoc that everybody hates.
β
β
Christopher Moore (A Dirty Job (Grim Reaper, #1))
β
Everything in this room is edible. Even I'm edible. But, that would be called canibalism. It is looked down upon in most societies.
β
β
Tim Burton (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
β
Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
We think too much and feel too little.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
You'll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
Your naked body should only belong to those who fall in love with your naked soul.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
I'm not a concept. Too many guys think I'm a concept or I complete them or I'm going to 'make them alive'β¦but I'm just a fucked up girl who's looking for my own peace of mind. Don't assign me yours.
β
β
Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: The Shooting Script)
β
My pain may be the reason for somebody's laugh.
But my laugh must never be the reason for somebody's pain.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
The best way to not get your heart broken, is pretending you don't have one.
β
β
Charlie Sheen
β
I am not really breaking any rules. Charlie said I could never take another step through the door again... I came in through the window... Still, the intent was clear," said Edward.
β
β
Stephenie Meyer (Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1))
β
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
There are so many doors to open. I am impatient to begin."
--Charlie Gordan
β
β
Daniel Keyes (Flowers for Algernon)
β
I like Charlie Spring! In a romantic way not just a friend way!
β
β
Alice Oseman (Heartstopper: Volume Two (Heartstopper, #2))
β
To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
What is the bravest thing you've ever said? asked the boy.
'Help,' said the horse.
'Asking for help isn't giving up,' said the horse. 'It's refusing to give up.
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.
β
β
Charles M. Schulz (Charlie Brown's Little Book of Wisdom (Peanuts Little Books))
β
Now and then I see something in her eyes, and I wonder if Iβve ever grasped how much pain sheβs really in.
β
β
Stephenie Meyer (New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2))
β
I read once that sunflowers always orient themselves to face the sun. Thatβs what being near Charlie Lastra is like for me. There could be a raging wildfire racing toward me from the west and Iβd still be straining eastward toward his warmth.
β
β
Emily Henry (Book Lovers)
β
The right thing isn't always real obvious. Sometimes the right thing for one person is the wrong thing for someone else. So...good luck figuring that out.
β
β
Stephenie Meyer (Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1))
β
You should never, never doubt something that no one is sure of.
β
β
Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
β
What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Kind," said the boy.
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
Imagination means nothing without doing.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
Sometimes I lie awake at night and I ask, "Why me?", then a voice answers "Nothing personal, your name just happened to come up.
β
β
Charles M. Schulz
β
Nick and Charlie! Are the two of you coming, or-Oh. You're being gay. Good job. Carry on.
β
β
Alice Oseman (Heartstopper - Volume 3 (Heartstopper, #3))
β
Why am I always looking at life through a window?
β
β
Daniel Keyes (Flowers for Algernon)
β
Perfect love is the most beautiful of all frustrations because it is more than one can express.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
What do you think is the biggest waste of time?"
"Comparing yourself to others," said the mole.
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
Β Β Β Β Illicit flight Alfa Bravo Charlie quickly reached a predetermined altitude and stopped dead. The passengers on board screamed the way people do on fairground rides. The shuttle hesitated momentarily and then shot forward accelerating rapidly to reach a blistering 145,222 miles per hour. They were in a Mach 22 situation. The cries from on-board could not be heard from the ground. Neither did anyone in the great metropolis of Llar witness the bright blue vapour trail the craft left behind in its wake. It was after all overcast and raining heavily.
β
β
A.R. Merrydew (Our Blue Orange (Godfrey Davis, #1))
β
Good morning starshine the earth says hello....
β
β
Tim Burton (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
β
Charlie said your friendβs disappeared,β chirped Wendy.
βNo, he hasnβt.β Adam denied it. βHeβs in the house. Now, look, whatβs all this youβve been telling them?β
βNothing, I havenβt told them anything.β Charlie looked drunk.
βHe said youβve turned your friend into a crayfish,β insisted Wendy.
βHeβs always making little jokes like that, and you fell for it. How am I supposed to do that, for heavenβs sake?β Adam was angry.
βWith your little book you found. Whatβs that under your arm?
β
β
Max Nowaz (Get Rich or Get Lucky)
β
What do you want meaning for? Life is desire, not meaning.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin (My life in pictures)
β
Lucy: You learn more when you lose
Charlie Brown: Well then I must be the smartest person in world!!!
β
β
Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts Treasury)
β
You are what you love, not what loves you.
β
β
Charlie Kaufman
β
Life can be wonderful if you're not afraid of it. All it takes is courage, imagination ... and a little dough
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
We both (Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett) insist on a lot of time being available almost every day to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. We read and think.
β
β
Charles T. Munger
β
Waiting and hoping is a hard thing to do when you've already been waiting and hoping for almost as long as you can bear it.
β
β
Jenny Nimmo (Charlie Bone and the Time Twister (The Children of the Red King, #2))
β
Once youβve been to Cambodia, youβll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. Witness what Henry did in Cambodia β the fruits of his genius for statesmanship β and you will never understand why heβs not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to MiloΕ‘eviΔ.
β
β
Anthony Bourdain
β
Do you have any other advice?" asked the boy.
"Don't measure how valuable you are by the way you are treated," said the horse.
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn't read all the time -- none, zero. You'd be amazed at how much Warren reads--and at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out.
β
β
Charles T. Munger (Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger)
β
Is your glass half empty or half full?" asked the mole.
"I think I'm grateful to have a glass," said the boy.
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
You need Power,
only when you want
to do something harmful
otherwise
Love is enough to get everything done.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
One of our greatest freedoms is how we react to things.
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
Whipped cream isn't whipped cream at all if it hasnt been whipped with whips, just like poached eggs isn't poached eggs unless it's been stolen in the dead of the night.
β
β
Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
β
Like everyone else I am what I am: an individual, unique and different, with a lineal history of ancestral promptings and urgings; a history of dreams, desires, and of special experiences, all of which I am the sum total.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin (My Autobiography)
β
I've heard tell that what you imagine sometimes comes true.
-Grandpa Joe
β
β
Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
β
Charlie whistled "Amazing Grace" as he drove. It was all I could do not to whip my head around and snap, Are you kidding me? Couldn't he pick something more appropriate, like "Shout at the Devil" or "Don't fear the Reaper"? Some people had no sense of the proper music for a kidnapping.
β
β
Jeaniene Frost (Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1))
β
That's the trouble with the world. We all despise ourselves.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
Well, I can understand how you feel. You worked hard, studying for the spelling bee, and I suppose you feel you let everyone down, and you made a fool of yourself and everything. But did you notice something, Charlie Brown?"
"What's that?"
"The world didn't come to an end.
β
β
Charles M. Schulz
β
Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Day by day, and at the end of the day-if you live long enough-like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve.
β
β
Charles T. Munger (Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger)
β
It's nice to have things to look forward to.
β
β
Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
β
The greatest illusion," said the mole, "is that life should be perfect.
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
Always remember you matter, you're important and you are loved, and you bring to this world things no one else can.
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
I knew Noah worshipped Charlie Parker and that his toothbrush was green. That he wouldn't bother to button his shirts correctly but always made his bed. That when he slept he curled into himself and that his eyes were the color of the clouds before it rained, and I knew he had no problem eating meat but would subtly leave the room if animals started to kill one another on the Discovery Channel. I knew one hundred little things about Noah Shaw but when he kissed me I couldn't remember my own name.
β
β
Michelle Hodkin
β
I want an Oompa-Loompa!' screamed Veruca.
β
β
Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
β
We often wait for kindness...but being kind to yourself can start now.
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
Beds empty! No note! Car gone β could have crashed β out of my mind with worry β did you care? β never, as long as Iβve lived β you wait until your father gets home, we never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy β"
"Perfect Percy,β muttered Fred.
βYOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCYβS BOOK!β yelled Mrs. Weasley, prodding a finger in Fredβs chest. βYou could have died, you could have been seen, you could have lost your father his job ββ
It seemed to go on for hours. Mrs. Weasley had shouted herself hoarse before she turned on Harry, who backed away.
βIβm very pleased to see you, Harry, dear,β she said.
β
β
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2))
β
Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating.
β
β
Charlie Kaufman
β
I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.
β
β
Charlie Jones
β
No problem is so big or so complicated that it can't be run away from!
β
β
Charles M. Schulz (The Complete Peanuts Boxset, 1959-1962 (The Complete Peanuts, #5-6))
β
But the fucked-up part is once you start self-harming, you can never not be a creepy freak, because your whole body is now a scarred and charred battlefield and nobody likes that on a girl, nobody will love that, and so all of us, every one, is screwed, inside and out. Wash, rinse, fucking repeat.
β
β
Kathleen Glasgow (Girl in Pieces)
β
We have such a long way to go," sighed the boy
"Yes, but look how far we've come," said the horse
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
Just leave me alone. I'm not myself. I'm falling apart, and I don't want you here.
β
β
Daniel Keyes (Flowers for Algernon)
β
In the end, everything is a gag.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
Life is a play that does not allow testing. So, sing, cry, dance, laugh and live intensely, before the curtain closes and the piece ends with no applause.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin: Interviews)
β
How to find a good spouse?
-the best single way is to deserve a good spouse.
β
β
Charles T. Munger (Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger)
β
I was very grateful to have heard it again. Because I guess we all forget sometimes. And I think everyone is special in their own way. I really do.
β
β
Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
β
In the light of our egos, we are all dethroned monarchs
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
But there was one other thing that the grown-ups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance is there. The chance had to be there.
β
β
Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
β
I am the maker of music, the dreamer of dreams!
β
β
Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
β
Words are cheap. The biggest thing you can say is 'elephant'.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
Isn't it odd. We can only see our outsides, but nearly everything happens on the inside
β
β
Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)
β
Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
There is no better teacher than history in determining the future... There are answers worth billions of dollars in 30$ history book.
β
β
Charles T. Munger (Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger)
β
The mirror is my best friend because when I cry it never laughs.
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
That's death and life, you see. We all shine on. You just have to release your hearts, alert your senses, and pay attention. A leaf, a star, a song, a laugh. Notice all the little things, because somebody is reaching out to you. Qualcuno ti ama. Somebody loves you.
β
β
Ben Sherwood (The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud)
β
Everything is more complicated than you think. You only see a tenth of what is true. There are a million little strings attached to every choice you make; you can destroy your life every time you choose. But maybe you won't know for twenty years. And you'll never ever trace it to its source. And you only get one chance to play it out. Just try and figure out your own divorce. And they say there is no fate, but there is: it's what you create. Even though the world goes on for eons and eons, you are here for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Most of your time is spent being dead or not yet born. But while alive, you wait in vain, wasting years, for a phone call or a letter or a look from someone or something to make it all right. And it never comes or it seems to but doesn't really. And so you spend your time in vague regret or vaguer hope for something good to come along. Something to make you feel connected, to make you feel whole, to make you feel loved.
β
β
Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York: The Shooting Script)
β
I was suddenly very aware of the fact it was me standing up in that tunnel with the wind over my face. Not caring if I saw downtown. Not even thinking about it. Because I was standing in the tunnel. And I was really there. And that was enough to make me feel infinite.
β
β
Stephen Chbosky
β
As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is βAUTHENTICITYβ.
As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody if I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this person was me. Today I call it βRESPECTβ.
As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life, and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow. Today I call it βMATURITYβ.
As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance, I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm. Today I call it βSELF-CONFIDENCEβ.
As I began to love myself I quit stealing my own time, and I stopped designing huge projects for the future. Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in my own rhythm. Today I call it βSIMPLICITYβ.
As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health β food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism. Today I know it is βLOVE OF ONESELFβ.
As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is βMODESTYβ.
As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worrying about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where everything is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it βFULFILLMENTβ.
As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me and it can make me sick. But as I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection βWISDOM OF THE HEARTβ.
We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing new worlds are born. Today I know βTHAT IS LIFEβ!
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
Maybe you can't help him, darling. I know you love him so, so much. I'm sure he loves you too. And I know you feel like it's your job to "save him". I know it feels like you are both each other's whole world, but that dependency isn't healthy for either of you. Charlie needs help from someone who isn't his sixteen-year-old boyfriend. He needs help from a doctor or a therapist, someone who knows about eating disorder and how to treat them. Love can't cure a mental illness. There are lots of ways to help him, you can just be there. To listen. To talk. To cheer him up if he's having a bad day. And on the bad days you can ask what to could do to make things easier. Stand by his side, even when things are hard. But also knowing that sometimes people need more support than just one person can give. That's love darling" - Sarah Nelson (Nick's mum)
β
β
Alice Oseman
β
Unwrapping the paper carefully so it doesnβt tear, I find a beautiful red leather
box. Cartier. Itβs familiar, thanks to my second-chance earrings and my watch.
Cautiously, I open the box to discover a delicate charm bracelet of silver, or platinum
or white goldβI donβt know, but itβs absolutely enchanting. Attached to it
are several charms: the Eiffel Tower, a London black cab, a helicopterβCharlie
Tango, a gliderβthe soaring, a catamaranβThe Grace, a bed, and an ice cream
cone? I look up at him, bemused.
βVanilla?β He shrugs apologetically, and I canβt help but laugh. Of course.
βChristian, this is beautiful. Thank you. Itβs yar.β He grins.
My favorite is the heart. Itβs a locket.
βYou can put a picture or whatever in that.β
βA picture of you.β I glance at him through my lashes. βAlways in my heart.β
He smiles his lovely, heartbreakingly shy smile.
I fondle the last two charms: a letter Cβoh yes, I was his first girlfriend to
use his first name. I smile at the thought. And finally, thereβs a key.
βTo my heart and soul,β he whispers.
β
β
E.L. James (Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3))
β
I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it is written that the kingdom of God is within man, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
β
β
Charlie Chaplin
β
But I've learned that intelligence alone doesn't mean a damned thing. Here in your university, intelligence, education, knowledge, have all become great idols. But I know now there's one thing you've all overlooked: intelligent and education that hasn't been tempered by human affection isn't worth a damn...Intelligence is one of the greatest human gifts. But all too often a search for knowledge drives out the search for love...Intelligence without the ability to give and receive affection leads to mental and moral breakdown, to neurosis, and possibly even psychosis.
β
β
Daniel Keyes (Flowers for Algernon)
β
Linus: What's wrong, Charlie Brown?
Charlie Brown: I just got terrible news. The teacher says we're going on a field trip to an art museum; and I have to get an A on my report or I'll fail the whole course. Why do we have to have all this pressure about grades, Linus?
Linus: Well, I think that the purpose of going to school is to get good grades so then you can go on to high school; and the purpose is to study hard so you can get good grades so you can go to college; and the purpose of going to college is so you can get good grades so you can go on to graduate school; and the purpose of that is to work hard and get good grades so we can get a job and be successful so that we can get married and have kids so we can send them to grammar school to get good grades so they can go to high school to get good grades so they can go to college and work hard...
Charlie Brown: Good grief!
β
β
Charles M. Schulz
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Art isn't only a painting. Art is anything that's creative, passionate, and personal. And great art resonates with the viewer, not only with the creator.
What makes someone an artist? I don't think is has anything to do with a paintbrush. There are painters who follow the numbers, or paint billboards, or work in a small village in China, painting reproductions. These folks, while swell people, aren't artists. On the other hand, Charlie Chaplin was an artist, beyond a doubt. So is Jonathan Ive, who designed the iPod. You can be an artists who works with oil paints or marble, sure. But there are artists who work with numbers, business models, and customer conversations. Art is about intent and communication, not substances.
An artists is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the status quo. And an artists takes it personally.
That's why Bob Dylan is an artist, but an anonymous corporate hack who dreams up Pop 40 hits on the other side of the glass is merely a marketer. That's why Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos, is an artists, while a boiler room of telemarketers is simply a scam.
Tom Peters, corporate gadfly and writer, is an artists, even though his readers are businesspeople. He's an artists because he takes a stand, he takes the work personally, and he doesn't care if someone disagrees. His art is part of him, and he feels compelled to share it with you because it's important, not because he expects you to pay him for it.
Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn't matter. The intent does.
Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another.
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Seth Godin (Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?)
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The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set --
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink --
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
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Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))