“
Nothing happens while you live. The scenery changes, people come in and go out, that's all. There are no beginnings. Days are tacked on to days without rhyme or reason, an interminable, monotonous addition.
”
”
Jean-Paul Sartre (Nausea)
“
The vast open sea at night is a song being written; a rhyme, a mysterious and gentle arpeggiated work of Beethoven. It's sung by the waves as they travel on the face of the ocean, and their lyrics are the rhythm of the pounding surf.
”
”
Giselle V. Steele (Rivers Never Fill The Sea)
“
If you are not in some way living your life like a Dr. Suess rhyme, than you may in fact be living it wrong.
”
”
Thurman P. Banks Jr.
“
She wondered If I had woken up, would I have smelled his sadness, his desperation, and his detachment?
His death, her breath.
He told her once, she remembers, these two words have no other rhyme but each other.
If she could go back, she thinks --
She would open her eyes, instead of her heart.
”
”
Rachel Thompson (Broken Pieces)
“
Hip-hop is a beautiful culture. It's inspirational, because it's a culture of survivors. You can create beauty out of nothingness.
”
”
Mos Def (Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop)
“
Let it shine, the light in you.
Oh, and that's delighting me!
Various colors shining through.
Elated, it fills my soul with ecstasy.
”
”
Ana Claudia Antunes (A-Z of Happiness: Tips for Living and Breaking Through the Chain that Separates You from Getting That Dream Job)
“
Formerly I believed books were made like this: a poet came, lightly opened his lips, and the inspired fool burst into song – if you please! But it seems, before they can launch a song, poets must tramp for days with callused feet, and the sluggish fish of the imagination flounders softly in the slush of the heart. And while, with twittering rhymes, they boil a broth of loves and nightingales, the tongueless street merely writhes for lack of something to shout or say
”
”
Vladimir Mayakovsky (The Bedbug and Selected Poetry)
“
When I die I hope it may be said:
'Her suffering was black, but her books were read'.
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
“
I must go down to the sea...to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by......
”
”
John Masefield
“
Philosophy isn’t just about learning—it’s equally about unlearning. It is rekindling the raw, playful curiosity from before the world trained us to see things one way.
”
”
Monica Laura Rapeanu (Mind-Bending Riddles Inspired by Philosophy | With Answers and Explanations | Philosophical Riddles | Philosophy in Rhymes : From Plato, Socrates, Lao Tzu, the Stoics, Epicurus, Buddhism, Rumi)
“
I grow when I’m shrinking,
My light’s most bright
when I’m sinking.
I’m nourished by my emptiness,
In a hollow space,
I find my bliss.
Who am I?
”
”
Monica Laura Rapeanu (Mind-Bending Riddles Inspired by Philosophy | With Answers and Explanations | Philosophical Riddles | Philosophy in Rhymes : From Plato, Socrates, Lao Tzu, the Stoics, Epicurus, Buddhism, Rumi)
“
I touch them all,
But stay in none.
I’m forever here,
Yet forever gone.
Who am I?
”
”
Monica Laura Rapeanu (Mind-Bending Riddles Inspired by Philosophy | With Answers and Explanations | Philosophical Riddles | Philosophy in Rhymes : From Plato, Socrates, Lao Tzu, the Stoics, Epicurus, Buddhism, Rumi)
“
I am you,
but I don’t have your name.
I hold you,
though you think you hold me.
I wander,
yet I’m always home.
I’m only one, but not alone.
Who am I?
”
”
Monica Laura Rapeanu (Mind-Bending Riddles Inspired by Philosophy | With Answers and Explanations | Philosophical Riddles | Philosophy in Rhymes : From Plato, Socrates, Lao Tzu, the Stoics, Epicurus, Buddhism, Rumi)
“
I defy darkness, and I define it.
I lead you to the infinite.
I guide you out
of what you think you are,
Cut through the veils,
I take you to the stars.
Who am I?
”
”
Monica Laura Rapeanu (Mind-Bending Riddles Inspired by Philosophy | With Answers and Explanations | Philosophical Riddles | Philosophy in Rhymes : From Plato, Socrates, Lao Tzu, the Stoics, Epicurus, Buddhism, Rumi)
“
What is this love
that makes me see beauty,
and makes every beautiful thing
bring you back to me?
What is this love
that makes me declare 'I love you'
even though I uttered it
only a moment ago?
What is this love
that keeps growing even when my chest is sore
and it hurts to love you any more?
Tell me:
How am I to find what this love is
when it was the one to find you, me,
this verse, and this universe?
”
”
Kamand Kojouri
“
The greatest thinkers knew that understanding often arises through contradiction, paradox, and questions that refuse to be pinned down. Philosophy doesn’t offer answers so much as it makes us dance with questions.
”
”
Monica Laura Rapeanu (Mind-Bending Riddles Inspired by Philosophy | With Answers and Explanations | Philosophical Riddles | Philosophy in Rhymes : From Plato, Socrates, Lao Tzu, the Stoics, Epicurus, Buddhism, Rumi)
“
My heart's made of gold
My soul is pure steel
Loved ones shall rise
Enemies will kneel
I soothe with water, attack with fire
For I am the master of my own empire.
”
”
Sarah Brownlee
“
Fear is my mother, reason my guide,
In danger I grow,
with strength by my side.
I rise not by shouting,
but through steady will,
Facing the storm,
I stand firm and still.
Who am I?
”
”
Monica Laura Rapeanu (Mind-Bending Riddles Inspired by Philosophy | With Answers and Explanations | Philosophical Riddles | Philosophy in Rhymes : From Plato, Socrates, Lao Tzu, the Stoics, Epicurus, Buddhism, Rumi)
“
I am the dance where halves dissolve,
The stillness where things evolve.
I am a drop, and the ocean too,
A song unsung, yet heard in you.
I am the hunter and the prey,
The night that swallows
the birth of day.
Who am I?
”
”
Monica Laura Rapeanu (Mind-Bending Riddles Inspired by Philosophy | With Answers and Explanations | Philosophical Riddles | Philosophy in Rhymes : From Plato, Socrates, Lao Tzu, the Stoics, Epicurus, Buddhism, Rumi)
“
A good poem has rhyming but no ending, it continues to rhyme in our heart.
”
”
Debasish Mridha
“
I’m nothing, yet I’m everything.
A space where all begin to sing,
I have no form,
yet shape all forms,
My beauty is to be unborn.
Who am I?
”
”
Monica Laura Rapeanu (Mind-Bending Riddles Inspired by Philosophy | With Answers and Explanations | Philosophical Riddles | Philosophy in Rhymes : From Plato, Socrates, Lao Tzu, the Stoics, Epicurus, Buddhism, Rumi)
“
To me, music isn't about rhyming on the beat or pleasing fans. It's about being true to who you are, your story and changing lives.
”
”
Don Santo
“
I conquer you without a fight,
I steal your strength, but grant you light.
I make you fall, yet help you rise,
I wound your heart to open your eyes.
I take your ground, I make you switch
I ask for all, yet leave you rich,
I am the loss that feels like gain,
The quiet joy inside your pain.
Who am I?
”
”
Monica Laura Rapeanu (Mind-Bending Riddles Inspired by Philosophy | With Answers and Explanations | Philosophical Riddles | Philosophy in Rhymes : From Plato, Socrates, Lao Tzu, the Stoics, Epicurus, Buddhism, Rumi)
“
My love flew over the boundary of time
with incredible beauty and notorious rhyme.
”
”
Debasish Mridha
“
If you believe in yourself, nothing is impossible. Without a dream you cannot have an aim and without an aim you cannot achieve and to dream you must have faith in yourself.
”
”
Koyel Mitra (Once upon a Rhyme)
“
Inspiring isn’t the same as plotting.
”
”
Jeffery Deaver (The Kill Room (Lincoln Rhyme #10))
“
And, of course, that is what all of this is - all of this: the one song, ever changing, ever reincarnated, that speaks somehow from and to and for that which is ineffable within us and without us, that is both prayer and deliverance, folly and wisdom, that inspires us to dance or smile or simply to go on, senselessly, incomprehensibly, beatifically, in the face of mortality and the truth that our lives are more ill-writ, ill-rhymed and fleeting than any song, except perhaps those songs - that song, endlesly reincarnated - born of that truth, be it the moon and June of that truth, or the wordless blue moan, or the rotgut or the elegant poetry of it. That nameless black-hulled ship of Ulysses, that long black train, that Terraplane, that mystery train, that Rocket '88', that Buick 6 - same journey, same miracle, same end and endlessness.
”
”
Nick Tosches
“
In your language you have a form of poetry called a sonnet...It is a very strict form of poetry, is it not?
...There are fourteen lines, I believe, all in iambic pentameter. That's a very strict rhythm or meter, yes?...And each line has to end with a rigid rhyme pattern. And if the poet does not do it exactly this way, it is not a sonnet, is it?'
'No.'
'But within this strict form the poet has complete freedom to say whatever he wants, doesn't he?'
'Yes." Calvin nodded again.
'So,' said Mrs. Whatsit.
'So what?'
'Oh, do not be stupid, boy!' Mrs. Whatsit scolded. 'You know perfectly well what I am driving at!'
'You mean you're comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but with freedom within it?'
'Yes,' Mrs. Whatsit said. "You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself.
”
”
Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, #1))
“
I believe in you my soul, the other I am must not abase itself to you,
And you must not be abased to the other.
Loaf with me on the grass, loose the stop from your throat,
Not words, not music or rhyme I want, not custom or lecture, not even the best,
Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice.
I mind how once we lay such a transparent summer morning,
How you settled your head athwart my hips, and gently turned over upon me,
And parted the shirt from my bosom bone, and plunged your tongue to my bare-stripped heart,
And reached till you felt my beard, and reached till you held my feet.
Swiftly arose and spread around me the peace and knowledge that pass all the argument of the earth,
And I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own,
And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own,
And that all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers,
And that a kelson of the creation is love,
And limitless are leaves stiff or drooping in the fields,
And brown ants in the little wells beneath them,
And mossy scabs of the worm fence, heaped stones, elder, mullein and pokeweed.
”
”
Walt Whitman
“
To make my body a temple pure
Wherein I dwell serene;
To care for the things that shall endure,
The simple, sweet and clean.
To oust out envy and hate and rage,
To breathe with no alarm;
For Nature shall be my anchorage,
And none shall do me harm.
”
”
Robert W. Service (Rhymes of a Rolling Stone)
“
That king who forsakes lust, anger, bestows wealth to needy,
Discriminates, is learned, active, is regarded as man of authority;
Prosperity is attends on king who inspires confidence in others truly,
Who punishes guilty in right measure, knows when to show mercy.
[97] - 33 Mahatma Vidur
”
”
Munindra Misra (Wisdom of Mahatma Vidur & Chanakya: in English Rhyme)
“
What rhymes with insensitive?” I tap my pen on the kitchen table, beyond frustrated with my current task. Who knew rhyming was so fucking difficult?
Garrett, who’s dicing onions at the counter, glances over. “Sensitive,” he says helpfully.
“Yes, G, I’ll be sure to rhyme insensitive with sensitive. Gold star for you.”
On the other side of the kitchen, Tucker finishes loading the dishwasher and turns to frown at me. “What the hell are you doing over there, anyway? You’ve been scribbling on that notepad for the past hour.”
“I’m writing a love poem,” I answer without thinking. Then I slam my lips together, realizing what I’ve done.
Dead silence crashes over the kitchen.
Garrett and Tucker exchange a look. An extremely long look. Then, perfectly synchronized, their heads shift in my direction, and they stare at me as if I’ve just escaped from a mental institution. I may as well have. There’s no other reason for why I’m voluntarily writing poetry right now. And that’s not even the craziest item on Grace’s list.
That’s right. I said it. List. The little brat texted me not one, not two, but six tasks to complete before she agrees to a date. Or maybe gestures is a better way to phrase it...
“I just have one question,” Garrett starts.
“Really?” Tuck says. “Because I have many.”
Sighing, I put my pen down. “Go ahead. Get it out of your systems.”
Garrett crosses his arms. “This is for a chick, right? Because if you’re doing it for funsies, then that’s just plain weird.”
“It’s for Grace,” I reply through clenched teeth.
My best friend nods solemnly.
Then he keels over. Asshole. I scowl as he clutches his side, his broad back shuddering with each bellowing laugh. And even while racked with laughter, he manages to pull his phone from his pocket and start typing.
“What are you doing?” I demand.
“Texting Wellsy. She needs to know this.”
“I hate you.”
I’m so busy glaring at Garrett that I don’t notice what Tucker’s up to until it’s too late. He snatches the notepad from the table, studies it, and hoots loudly. “Holy shit. G, he rhymed jackass with Cutlass.”
“Cutlass?” Garrett wheezes. “Like the sword?”
“The car,” I mutter. “I was comparing her lips to this cherry-red Cutlass I fixed up when I was a kid. Drawing on my own experience, that kind of thing.”
Tucker shakes his head in exasperation. “You should have compared them to cherries, dumbass.”
He’s right. I should have. I’m a terrible poet and I do know it.
“Hey,” I say as inspiration strikes. “What if I steal the words to “Amazing Grace”? I can change it to…um…Terrific Grace.”
“Yup,” Garrett cracks. “Pure gold right there. Terrific Grace.”
I ponder the next line. “How sweet…”
“Your ass,” Tucker supplies.
Garrett snorts. “Brilliant minds at work. Terrific Grace, how sweet your ass.” He types on his phone again.
“Jesus Christ, will you quit dictating this conversation to Hannah?” I grumble. “Bros before hos, dude.”
“Call my girlfriend a ho one more time and you won’t have a bro.”
Tucker chuckles. “Seriously, why are you writing poetry for this chick?”
“Because I’m trying to win her back. This is one of her requirements.”
That gets Garrett’s attention. He perks up, phone poised in hand as he asks, “What are the other ones?”
“None of your fucking business.”
“Golly gee, if you do half as good a job on those as you’re doing with this epic poem, then you’ll get her back in no time!”
I give him the finger. “Sarcasm not appreciated.” Then I swipe the notepad from Tuck’s hand and head for the doorway. “PS? Next time either of you need to score points with your ladies? Don’t ask me for help. Jackasses.”
Their wild laughter follows me all the way upstairs. I duck into my room and kick the door shut, then spend the next hour typing up the sorriest excuse for poetry on my laptop. Jesus. I’m putting more effort into this damn poem than for my actual classes.
”
”
Elle Kennedy (The Mistake (Off-Campus, #2))
“
When did your name
change from a proper noun
to a charm?
Its three vowels
like jewels
on the thread of my breath.
Its consonants
brushing my mouth
like a kiss.
I love your name.
I say it again and again
in this summer rain.
I see it,
discreet in the alphabet,
like a wish.
I pray it
into the night
till its letters are light.
I hear your name
rhyming, rhyming,
rhyming with everything.
"Name
”
”
Carol Ann Duffy (Rapture)
“
After two or three stanzas and several images by which he was himself astonished, his work took possession of him and he experienced the approach of what is called inspiration. At such moments the correlation of the forces controlling the artist is, as it were, stood on its head. The ascendancy is no longer with the artist or the state of mind which he is trying to express, but with language, his instrument of expression. Language, the home and dwelling of beauty and meaning, itself begins to think and speak for man and turns wholly into music, not in the sense of outward, audible sounds but by virtue of the power and momentum of its inward flow. Then, like the current of a mighty river polishing stones and turning wheels by its very movement, the flow of speech creates in passing, by the force of its own laws, rhyme and rhythm and countless other forms and formations, still more important and until now undiscovered, unconsidered and unnamed.
At such moments Yury felt that the main part of his work was not being done by him but by something which was above him and controlling him: the thought and poetry of the world as it was at that moment and as it would be in the future. He was controlled by the next step it was to take in the order of its historical development; and he felt himself to be only the pretext and the pivot setting it in motion.
...
In deciphering these scribbles he went through the usual disappointments. Last night these rough passages had astonished him and moved him to tears by certain unexpectedly successful lines. Now, on re-reading these very lines, he was saddened to find that they were strained and glaringly far-fetched.
”
”
Boris Pasternak (Doctor Zhivago)
“
Style is not how you write.
It is how you do not write like anyone else.
* * *
How do you know if you're a writer?
Write something everyday for two weeks, then stop, if you can.
If you can't, you're a writer.
And no one, no matter how hard they may try,
will ever be able to stop you from following your writing dreams.
* * *
You can find your writer's voice
by simply listening to that little Muse inside
that says in a low, soft whisper, "Listen to this...
* * *
Enter the writing process
with a childlike sense of wonder and discovery.
Let it surprise you.
* * *
Poems for children help them
celebrate the joy and wonder of their world.
Humorous poems tickle the funny bone of their imaginations.
* * *
There are many fine poets writing for children today.
The greatest reward for each of us is in knowing that our efforts
might stir the minds and hearts of young readers with a vision
and wonder of the world and themselves that may be new to them
or reveal something already familiar in new and enlightening ways.
* * *
The path to inspiration starts
Beyond the trails we’ve known;
Each writer’s block is not a rock,
But just a stepping stone.
* * *
When you write for children,
don't write for children.
Write from the child in you.
* * *
Poems look at the world from the inside out.
* * *
The act of writing brings with it a sense of discovery,
of discovering on the page something you didn't know you knew
until you wrote it.
* * *
The answer to the artist
Comes quicker than a blink
Though initial inspiration
Is not what you might think.
The Muse is full of magic,
Though her vision’s sometimes dim;
The artist does not choose the work,
It is the work that chooses him.
* * *
Poem-Making 101.
Poetry shows. Prose tells.
Choose precise, concrete words.
Remove prose from your poems.
Use images that evoke the senses.
Avoid the abstract, the verbose, the overstated.
Trust the poem to take you where it wants to go.
Follow it closely, recording its path with imagery.
* * *
What's a Poem?
A whisper,
a shout,
thoughts turned
inside out.
A laugh,
a sigh,
an echo
passing by.
A rhythm,
a rhyme,
a moment
caught in time.
A moon,
a star,
a glimpse
of who you are.
* * *
A poem is a little path
That leads you through the trees.
It takes you to the cliffs and shores,
To anywhere you please.
Follow it and trust your way
With mind and heart as one,
And when the journey’s over,
You’ll find you’ve just begun.
* * *
A poem is a spider web
Spun with words of wonder,
Woven lace held in place
By whispers made of thunder.
* * *
A poem is a busy bee
Buzzing in your head.
His hive is full of hidden thoughts
Waiting to be said.
His honey comes from your ideas
That he makes into rhyme.
He flies around looking for
What goes on in your mind.
When it is time to let him out
To make some poetry,
He gathers up your secret thoughts
And then he sets them free.
”
”
Charles Ghigna
“
Halt glared at his friend as the whistling continued.
'I had hoped that your new sense of responsibly would put an end to that painful shrieking noise you make between your lips' he said.
Crowley smiled. It was a beautiful day and he was feeling at peace with the world. And that meant he was more than ready to tease Halt 'It's a jaunty song'
'What's jaunty about it?' Halt asked, grim faced. Crowley made an uncertain gesture as he sought for an answer to that question.
'I suppose it's the subject matter' he said eventually. 'It's a very cheerful song. Would you like me to sing it for you?'
'N-' Halt began but he was too late, as Crowley began to sing. He had a pleasant tenor voice, in fact, and his rendering of the song was quite good. But to Halt it was as attractive as a rusty barn door squeaking.
'A blacksmith from Palladio, he met a lovely lady-o'
'Whoa! Whoa!' Halt said 'He met a lovely lady-o?' Halt repeated sarcastically 'What in the name of all that's holy is a lady-o?'
'It's a lady' Crowley told him patiently.
'Then why not sing 'he met a lovely lady'?' Halt wanted to know.
Crowley frowned as if the answer was blatantly obvious.
"Because he's from Palladio, as the song says. It's a city on the continent, in the southern part of Toscana.'
'And people there have lady-o's, instead of ladies?' Asked Halt
'No. They have ladies, like everyone else. But 'lady' doesn't rhyme with Palladio, does it? I could hardly sing, 'A blacksmith from Palladio, he met his lovely lady', could I?'
'It would make more sense if you did' Halt insisted
'But it wouldn't rhyme' Crowley told him.
'Would that be so bad?'
'Yes! A song has to rhyme or it isn't a proper song. It has to be lady-o. It's called poetic license.'
'It's poetic license to make up a word that doesn't exist and which, by the way, sound extremely silly?' Halt asked.
Crowley shook his head 'No. It's poetic license to make sure that the two lines rhyme with each other'
Halt thought for a few seconds, his eyes knitted close together. Then inspiration struck him.
'Well then couldn't you sing 'A blacksmith from Palladio, he met a lovely lady, so...'?'
'So what?' Crowley challenged
Halt made and uncertain gesture with his hands as he sought more inspiration. Then he replied. 'He met a lovely lady, so...he asked her for her hand and gave her a leg of lamb.'
'A leg of lamb? Why would she want a leg of lamb?' Crowley demanded
Halt shrugged 'Maybe she was hungry
”
”
John Flanagan (The Tournament at Gorlan (Ranger’s Apprentice: The Early Years, #1))
“
If to a poet a physicist may speak
Freely, as though we shared a common tongue,
For "peace in our time" I should hardly seek
By means that once proved wrong.
It seems the Muscovite
Has quite a healthy, growing appetite.
We can't be safe; at least we can be right.
Some bombs may help - perhaps a bomb-proof cellar,
But surely not the Chamberlain umbrella.
The atom is now big; the world is small.
Unfortunately, we have conquered space.
If war does come, it comes to all,
To every distant place.
Will people have the dash
That Britons had when their world seemed to crash
Before a small man with a small mustache?
You rhyme the atoms to amuse and charm us -
Your counsel should inspire, and not disarm us.
(Teller's reply to an anonymous British man's poem/message (that Americans are too belligerent), both in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).
”
”
Edward Teller (Memoirs: A Twentieth-Century Journey in Science and Politics)
“
Accounts from Europe indicate that the danse macabre took another form, inspired by the Black Death, rather like our children's rhyme 'Ring o' Ring o' Roses', which refers to the Great Plague. In 1374, a fanatical sect of dancers appeared in the Rhine, convinced that they could put an end to the epidemic by dancing for days and allowing other people to trample on their bodies. It is not recorded whether they recovered but, incredibly, they began to raise money from bystanders. By the time they reached Cologne they were 500 strong, dancing like demons, half-naked with flowers in their hair. Regarded as a menace by the authorities, these dancers macabre were threatened with excommunication.
”
”
Catharine Arnold (Necropolis: London and Its Dead)
“
Lollipops and raindrops
Sunflowers and sun-kissed daisies
Rolling surf and raging sea
Sailing ships and submarines
Old Glory and “purple mountain’s majesty”
Screaming guitar and lilting rhyme
Flight of fancy and high-steppin’ dances
Set free my mind to wander…
Imagine the ant’s marching journeys.
Fly, in my mind’s eye, on butterfly wings.
Roam the distant depths of space.
Unfurl tall sails and cross the ocean.
Pictures made just to enthrall
Creating images from my truth
Painting hopes and dreams on my canvas
Capturing, through my lens, the ephemeral
Let me ruminate ‘pon sensual darkness…
Tremble o’er Hollywood’s fluttering Gothics…
Ride the edge of my seat with the hero…
Weep with the heroine’s desperation.
Yet… more than all these things…
Give me words spun out masterfully…
Terms set out in meter and rhyme…
Phrases bent to rattle the soul…
Prose that always miraculously inspires me!
The trill runs up my spine, as I recall…
A touch… a caress…a whispered kiss…
Ebony eyes embracing my soul…
Two souls united in beat of hearts.
A butterfly flutter in my womb
My lover’s wonder o’er my swelling
The testament of our love given life
Newly laid in my lover’s arms
Luminous, sweet ebony eyes
Just so much like his father’s
A gaze of wonder and contentment
From my babe at mother’s breast
Words of the Divine set down for me
Faith, Hope, Love, and Charity
Grace, Mercy, and undeserved Salvation
“My Shepherd will supply my need”
These are the things that inspire me.
”
”
D. Denise Dianaty (My Life In Poetry)
“
Truth, says instrumentalism, is what works out, that which does what you expect it to do. The judgment is true when you can "bank" on it and not be disappointed. If, when you predict, or when you follow the lead of your idea or plan, it brings you to the ends sought for in the beginning, your judgment is true. It does not consist in agreement of ideas, or the agreement of ideas with an outside reality; neither is it an eternal something which always is, but it is a name given to ways of thinking which get the thinker where he started. As a railroad ticket is a "true" one when it lands the passenger at the station he sought, so is an idea "true," not when it agrees with something outside, but when it gets the thinker successfully to the end of his intellectual journey.
Truth, reality, ideas and judgments are not things that stand out eternally "there," whether in the skies above or in the earth beneath; but they are names used to characterize certain vital stages in a process which is ever going on, the process of creation, of evolution. In that process we may speak of reality, this being valuable for our purposes; again, we may speak of truth; later, of ideas; and still again, of judgments; but because we talk about them we should not delude ourselves into thinking we can handle them as something eternally existing as we handle a specimen under the glass.
Such a conception of truth and reality, the instrumentalist believes, is in harmony with the general nature of progress. He fails to see how progress, genuine creation, can occur on any other theory on theories of finality, fixity, and authority; but he believes that the idea of creation which we have sketched here gives man a vote in the affairs of the universe, renders him a citizen of the world to aid in the creation of valuable objects in the nature of institutions and principles, encourages him to attempt things "unattempted yet in prose or rhyme," inspires him to the creation of "more stately mansions," and to the forsaking of his "low vaulted past." He believes that the days of authority are over, whether in religion, in rulership, in science, or in philosophy; and he offers this dynamic universe as a challenge to the volition and intelligence of man, a universe to be won or lost at man’s option, a universe not to fall down before and worship as the slave before his master, the subject before his king, the scientist before his principle, the philosopher before his system, but a universe to be controlled, directed, and recreated by man’s intelligence.
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Holly Estil Cunningham (An Introduction to Philosophy)