Ithaka As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you. Hope the voyage is a long one. May there be many a summer morning when, with what pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors seen for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind— as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars. Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you are destined for. But do not hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you are old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you have gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich. Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would not have set out. She has nothing left to give you now. And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
Constantinos P. Cavafis
Related As you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that your journey be a long one, filled wit... BARRY B. POWELL May you find serenity and tranquility in a worl... SANDRA STURTZ HAUSS I Like For You To Be Still I like for you to be still It is as though you are... PABLO NERUDA Remember The Dream You have a choice Your heart will know You gotta look back s... JAMES INGRAM -Desiderata- Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may... MAX EHRMANN The Journey One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, thou... MARY OLIVER unless it comes out of your soul like a rocket, unless being still would drive you to... CHARLES BUKOWSKI Better associations __________________ If you associate yourself with a change maker... ISRAELMORE AYIVOR A Woman's Question Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing Ever made by t... JOSHUA HARRIS Better Associations: If you associate yourself with a change maker, Your life will b... ISRAELMORE AYIVOR Glossa Time goes by, time comes along, All is old and all is new; What is righ... MIHAI EMINESCU who are you really? you are not a name or a height, or a weight or a gende... M.K LOVE IS A FLOWER Treat your relationship As if you are growing The most beautif... SUZY KASSEM If an eagle gives you a feather, keep it safe. Remember: that giants sleep too soundly; that NEIL GAIMAN You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself an... DR. SEUSS THE INVITATION by Oriah Mountain Dreamer It doesn't interest me what you do for a li... ORIAH MOUNTAIN DREAMER If You Forget Me I want you to know one thing. You know how this is: PABLO NERUDA This poem is very long So long, in fact, that your attention span May be stretched to its ... COLLEEN HOOVER There are things you can’t reach. But You can reach out to them, and all day long. MARY OLIVER Don’t pack out ______________ To some people, you make life bright When you d... ISRAELMORE AYIVOR
You Chose
You chose. You chose. You chose. You cho... SHANNON L. ALDER I think of you often and make no outward show, But what it means to lose you, no one will ... ANON. REMEMBER YOUR GREATNESS Before you were born, And were still too tiny for The h... SUZY KASSEM DON'T SAY, DO Do not say things You think I want to hear. Instead, S... SUZY KASSEM Grant them removed, and grant that this your noise Hath chid down all the majesty of England; WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE I want to see you. Know your voice. Recognize you when you first come 'ro... JALALUDDIN MEVLANA RUMI For Equilibrium, a Blessing: Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore, May the relief ... JOHN O'DONOHUE REMEMBER YOUR GREATNESS Before you were born, And were still too tiny for The h... SUZY KASSEM Frida Kahlo to Marty McConnell leaving is not enough; you must stay gone. tra... MARTY MCCONNELL When you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that the road is long, full of advent... CONSTANTINE PETER CAVAFY Have you ever had so much to say that your mouth closed up tight struggling to harnes... ELLEN HOPKINS leaving is not enough; you must stay gone. train your heart like a dog. change the locks<... MARTY MCCONNELL If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If ... RUDYARD KIPLING If I were a cinnamon peeler I would ride your bed and leave the yellow bark dust on y... MICHAEL ONDAATJE One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept s... MARY OLIVER The Pretender Keep you in the dark you know they all pretend Keep you in the dark an... FOO FIGHTERS Is it odd, my love, that I envy others who have not met you for the intoxication t... KAMAND KOJOURI May Light always surround you; Hope kindle and rebound you. May your Hurts turn to Healing... D. SIMONE LET’S GO BACK HOME I can't think about you, Without smiling. What I wouldn’... GIORGE LEEDY People want you to be happy. Don't keep serving them your pain! If you could untie y... JALALUDDIN MEVLANA RUMI So that you will hear me my words sometimes grow thin as the tracks of the gulls on t... PABLO NERUDA Giving Birth by Marcus Amaker do you remember when the earth was just a bab... MARCUS AMAKER Follow your bliss. If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track t... JOSEPH CAMPBELL I want to write something so simply about love or about pain that even ... MARY OLIVER Oh,you may not think I'm pretty, But don't judge on what you see, I'll eat myself if you... J.K. ROWLING KINGDOM OF THE WOMB From her thighs, she gives you life And how you treat she who gi... SUZY KASSEM I want you to tell me about every person you’ve ever been in love with. Tell me why you loved... ANDREA GIBSON When you are doing all that you know to do yet all hell is breaking out around you, SANJO JENDAYI Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-... WENDELL BERRY Oh soul, you worry too much. You have seen your own strength. You have seen your own ... JALALUDDIN MEVLANA RUMI Oh soul, you worry too much. You have seen your own strength. You have seen your own bea... JALAL AD-DIN RUMI girls please give your bodies and your lives to the young men who CHARLES BUKOWSKI THE NAKED HEART From womb to tomb, There came and went - Only you. Poor or... SUZY KASSEM Amor" So many days, oh so many days seeing you so tangible and so close, how do... PABLO NERUDA Looking for Your Face From the beginning of my life I have been looking for your fac... JALALUDDIN MEVLANA RUMI People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. I... MOTHER TERESA The Master's Sacred Knowledge. Love is the treasure you should seek! The grea... ALLAN RUFUS If you're anything like me, You bite your nails, And laugh when you're nervous. You p... TAYLOR SWIFT When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, ... ANON. You see her and ascend into love. You become enchanted, a found madman. In yo... KAMAND KOJOURI Come back to me. Where have you gone? And why so long? I miss the star below your lip... KAMAND KOJOURI People always ask me "Son what does it take To reach out and touch your dreams?" To t... TIM MCGRAW I tried to warn you, But girls never listen. Got your innocence insured? ... WENDY HIGGINS You start dying slowly if you do not travel, if you do not read, If you do not lis... MARTHA MEDEIROS THE NAKED HEART From womb to tomb, There came and went - Only you. P... SUZY KASSEM Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself... KAHLIL GIBRAN And when you're alone, there's a very good chance you'll meet things that scare you right out o... DR. SEUSS To know the way, we go the way, we do the way. The way we do, the things we do... BENJAMIN HOFF From her thighs, she gives you life And how you treat she who gives you life Shows how muc... SUZY KASSEM The Type Everyone needs a place. It shouldn't be inside of someone else. -Richard Siken SARAH KAY Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, f... NAOMI SHIHAB NYE THE CURSE May they never Return home at night... May you have no part of ... VISAR ZHITI Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone; For the sad old earth must... ELLA WHEELER WILCOX Note and Quote to Self – What you think, say and do! Your life mainly consists of 3 thi... ALLAN RUFUS Though it's fearful, Though it's deep, though it's dark And though you may lose the path... STEPHEN SONDHEIM i love good cries, loud sobs that soak your pillow that kind that come at the end of ... MADISEN KUHN Love. Because of you, in gardens of blossoming Flowers I ache from the perfumes of s... PABLO NERUDA Life is a valuable and unique opportunity to discover who you are. But it seems as soon as... RICHELLE E. GOODRICH You are the king no doubt, but in one respect, at least, I am your equal: the right to reply. ROBERT FAGLES when you walk, you look like you’re trying to disappear. your back is gonna be fucked up. CAITLYN SIEHL There will always be those who say you are too young and delicate to make anything happen ... CLEMENTINE VON RADICS I hope one day somebody loves you so much that they see violets in the bags unde... TRISTA MATEER Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything ... PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are me... TERESA OF ÁVILA BEWARE OF THOSE Beware of those who are bitter, For they will never allow you T... SUZY KASSEM A Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life: 1. Never put off to tomorrow wha... THOMAS JEFFERSON You are the daughter of the sea, oregano's first cousin. Swimmer, your body is pure as the wat... PABLO NERUDA Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings but contemplate their return. ZHUANGZI Exactly when will you give up? When things will seem out of your hands ? When ... SANHITA BARUAH What if you slept And what if In your sleep You dreamed And what if In... SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE I have named you queen. There are taller than you, taller. There are purer than you, purer... PABLO NERUDA I loved you, so I drew these tides of Men into my hands And wrote my will across the ... T.E. LAWRENCE i'm so hooked on how your mind works, on what you notice, on everything that excites ... AVA i'm so hooked on how your mind works, on what you notice, on everything that excites ... AVA. Don’t you dare say these times are hollow Just because there are storms raging by. Just ... MELITA TESSY Start by pulling him out of the fire and hoping that he will forget the smell. He was supp... CAITLYN SIEHL Girl, bite. Girl, devour. Girl, don't forgive. Girl, stay angry. Girl, be selfish. Girl, w... CAITLYN SIEHL Love After Love The time will come when, with elation you will greet y... DEREK WALCOTT FORBIDDEN Pain without learning is forbidden, waking up one day not knowing what to do, JOSé N. HARRIS For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. SAM LEVENSON
More Constantinos P. Cavafis
Before Jerusalem
Now they've come before Jerusalem. Passions, avar... CONSTANTINOS P. CAVAFIS Don’t mourn your luck that’s failing now, work gone wrong, your plans all proving dece... CONSTANTINOS P. CAVAFIS And if you can’t shape your life the way you want, at least try as much as you can not to degrade ... CONSTANTINOS P. CAVAFIS What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum? The barbarians are due here today. Why is... CONSTANTINOS P. CAVAFIS Άλλα ζητεί η ψυχή σου, γι’ άλλα κλαίει· CONSTANTINOS P. CAVAFIS Επιθυμίες Σαν σώματα ωραία νεκρών που δεν εγέρασαν CONSTANTINOS P. CAVAFIS The fact he came back from two sets down is nothing short of a minor miracle ... he's made believers... CONSTANTINOS GREGORAS As a practising lawyer, I was mediocre, but I worked hard as a law officer of the state government a... P. SATHASIVAM If you go back to any period in India's history, all the hard decisions this country had to take... P. CHIDAMBARAM I have maintained that the people of India are ahead of their governments. The people of India are a... P. CHIDAMBARAM When I came back to India after Harvard Business School, I started as a lawyer and as a trade union ... P. CHIDAMBARAM Let me tell you, very frankly, when I went to the Harvard Business School I was more or less a commi... P. CHIDAMBARAM The police force cannot be completely independent of the executive government. P. CHIDAMBARAM We cannot afford to leave the poor behind. P. CHIDAMBARAM I don't think we should label budgets even before the budget is presented. P. CHIDAMBARAM A government can do only what is feasible given the political and economic context. P. CHIDAMBARAM Police can only act on intelligence. P. CHIDAMBARAM In income tax, there is no case for amnesty. P. CHIDAMBARAM The voter does not vote only on one issue, the voter votes on a multiplicity of issues. P. CHIDAMBARAM Growth is a panacea for many ills in society; not entirely, but many. P. CHIDAMBARAM I think people respect governments that take decisions and act decisively. P. CHIDAMBARAM Criticism of a policy is welcome. But in the garb of criticizing a policy, if you allege that the po... P. CHIDAMBARAM Two successive commissioners in London police were fired by the mayor that came into office. That do... P. CHIDAMBARAM People understand what is good for them in the long run. In the long run, what is good for people is... P. CHIDAMBARAM People are wiser than we are willing to attribute to them. P. CHIDAMBARAM 'Big business' was a bad phrase in India. To be accused of being big business was the worst ... P. CHIDAMBARAM I respect the view of a rating agency, but I do not make a budget for the rating agency. I make a bu... P. CHIDAMBARAM It is possible that, post-Kyoto, the developed countries will recognise the requirements of the deve... P. CHIDAMBARAM Evidence points out that if you raise tariffs too much it will increase smuggling. P. CHIDAMBARAM All wisdom does not reside in Delhi. P. CHIDAMBARAM The concept of a Nash equilibrium n-tuple is perhaps the most important idea in noncooperative game ... P. ORDESHOOK Today, to allege corruption seems to be the pastime of most people. All kinds of allegations are lev... P. CHIDAMBARAM Carey's had though times as well, so between the two of us, it's perfect P!NK My mum and I have an incredible friendship now after a mixture of pain, honesty, unconditional love ... P!NK I can turn heartbreak into songs that help other people P!NK Independence is a very subjective assessment. P. CHIDAMBARAM There are checks and balances and broad separation of powers under the Constitution. Each organ of t... P. SATHASIVAM Television is not like making records. I wanna tell all you kids, do not try this at home, 'caus... MASTER P The true source of cheerfulness is benevolence. P. GODWIN Statistics are like lampposts: they are good to lean on, but they don't shed much light. STORM P When your looking for the love you thought you had for someone and it starts to become too difficult... JASHON P Love is about giving, about caring for the other person's welfare. Love is treating someone, in the ... A. P. One must live the way one thinks or end up thinking the way one has lived P. BOURGET ...music, music, records, records, noise to cover silence. A. P. I feel pretty sure I know why the dinosaurs went extinct. They were waiting for Sam to pick out a ce... P. ANASTASIA Cry in love, But never cry after breakup, It will cry your life. PRASHANT P If I can go through what I've been through and do a television show with my son and then be a bo... MASTER P So what! I'm still a rockstar, I got my rock moves, and I don't need you! P!NK Nothing awakens the conscience like a lot of money. P. SAINATH Denying the poor access to knowledge goes back a long way. The ancient Smriti political and legal sy... P. SAINATH Too often, poverty and deprivation get covered as events. That is, when some disaster strikes, when ... P. SAINATH WhatEver May Be The Problems, Dont Be Afraid, Think That They Are The Questions Infront Of You As An... P. P. GURUMAULI ANNA SAHEB MORE To become a millionaire you must become a Lion, you can't even spell millionaire without the word Li... P. P. GURUMAULI ANNA SAHEB MORE Don't send funny greeting cards on birthdays or at Christmas. Save them for funerals, when their... P. J. O'ROURKE We call ourselves a dog's 'master' - but who ever dared to call himself the 'master&... H. P. LOVECRAFT Humans have a light side and a dark side, and it's up to us to choose which way we're going ... TARAJI P. HENSON Bunch together a group of people deliberately chosen for strong religious feelings, and you have a p... H. P. LOVECRAFT The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination. H. P. LOVECRAFT We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant... H. P. LOVECRAFT Blue, green, grey, white, or black; smooth, ruffled, or mountainous; that ocean is not silent. H. P. LOVECRAFT The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk. This drunkenness culminates on Ne... P. J. O'ROURKE The child is pronounced pretty. I think it quite otherwise. SALMON P. CHASE What can be indissoluble if a perpetual Union, made more perfect, is not? SALMON P. CHASE The President then proceeded to read his Emancipation Proclamation, making remarks on the several pa... SALMON P. CHASE All men are born equally free. SALMON P. CHASE Once I should have been, if not satisfied, partially, at least, contented with suffrage for the inte... SALMON P. CHASE What you have said, Mr. President, fully satisfies me that you have given to every proposition which... SALMON P. CHASE The Proclamation does not, indeed, mark out exactly the course I should myself prefer. But I am read... SALMON P. CHASE The law of the Creator, which invests every human being with an inalienable title to freedom, cannot... SALMON P. CHASE Our relationship with Mexico in this regard is unique for us, and in many respects unique in the wor... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON Well, I think the United States first of all has to recognize the world for what it is. SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON In 1920, the West ruled huge amounts of the world. SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON First of all, we haven't always welcomed immigrants. SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON It was this society and culture that among other things - including economic opportunities here and ... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON They weren't immigrating to some existing society; indeed, they often did whatever they could do... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON Also, of course, for most of this time most Americans thought of America as a white country with, at... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON We also thought of ourselves in racial and largely ethnic terms. SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON Total falsehoods can be easily exposed for what they are by citing exceptions to their claims. Hence... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON The West hasn't reached its universal state as yet, although its close to it, but it certainly h... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON Immigrants are people who leave one country, one society, and move to another society. But there has... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON And so in terms of territorial control, in terms of economic preeminence, the western share of the g... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON Finally, in my critique of the immigration image of America, it is also important to know that we... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON The other aspect of American identity worth focusing on is the concept of America as a nation of imm... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON Mexican immigration poses challenges to our policies and to our identity in a way nothing else has i... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON It will take a long time, and certainly the West will remain the dominant civilization well into the... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON I think clearly the United States, as well as other western nations, should stand by their commitmen... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON The British were white, English, and Protestant, just as we were. They had to have some other basis ... SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON Partial truths or half-truths are often more insidious than total falsehoods. SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON A lot of times characters are combinations of people I come across in life. I people-watch a lot. TARAJI P. HENSON I feel like we all have our skeletons. TARAJI P. HENSON I just like when I work with people that are professional and good. TARAJI P. HENSON With TV, the pace is so fast, the scripts are coming at you, the directors are firing things at you,... TARAJI P. HENSON I love the art of acting, so I don't care if I'm in a movie with 10 people, two people, or b... TARAJI P. HENSON I would love to do a biopic of a famous singer, like Diana Ross or Donna Summer, or an old jazz stor... TARAJI P. HENSON When I come home, it's about my kid, who needs to eat, needs to do homework, and needs to get to... TARAJI P. HENSON Date a woman with children only if you are ready to man up, because it's a position that comes w... TARAJI P. HENSON I'm nothing without God. TARAJI P. HENSON Acting for me is very therapeutic. It's my shrink. TARAJI P. HENSON I don't ever want to feel complacent. TARAJI P. HENSON I'm not a selfish actor. I believe that it's a team effort. You're not in a scene by you... TARAJI P. HENSON I'm always the cousin that can't make it to the family functions because I'm busy. TARAJI P. HENSON When I meet a person and that chemistry is there, I cannot hide the electricity. I need to learn mor... TARAJI P. HENSON I don't harp on the negative because if you do, then there's no progression. There's no ... TARAJI P. HENSON I don't think a living being should suffer for the sake of fashion, period. End of story. You do... TARAJI P. HENSON I'm a creative person, so I have to stay busy. TARAJI P. HENSON I'm always interested in challenging myself and pushing and seeing how far I can go. TARAJI P. HENSON It's up to you to be responsible for how you feel if you're not happy. Your happiness lies i... TARAJI P. HENSON A woman is gentle, soft, delicate, and a man's position is to protect her, help her up stairs, m... TARAJI P. HENSON At the end of the day, I stand by who I am. I'm a good person. TARAJI P. HENSON Love is the greatest gift that God has given us. It's free. TARAJI P. HENSON The best way to be productive is to have a great team. So I spend more time than most CEOs on human ... KEVIN P. RYAN Most writers are unhappy with film adaptations of their work, and rightly so. 'Field of Dreams,&... W. P. KINSELLA I can still put down some pretty nasty stuff on paper, which is what I enjoy doing. W. P. KINSELLA Most people write a lot of autobiography, but when I came to write autobiography I discovered that n... W. P. KINSELLA Read, read, read, read and then read some more. W. P. KINSELLA I knew how to read box scores and who the baseball heroes were before I had ever seen or even heard ... W. P. KINSELLA Baseball is meant to be a contemplative game. They play music to draw young people to the game. If y... W. P. KINSELLA If I have a choice between looking something up and making it up, I'll make it up every time. W. P. KINSELLA I have no interest in non-fiction. I don't read it and don't watch it and don't write it... W. P. KINSELLA I don't believe in the afterlife. W. P. KINSELLA The crack of the bat, the sound of baseballs thumping into gloves, the infield chatter are like bird... W. P. KINSELLA Find something that thrills you, and when you finish reading it for enjoyment, read it again line by... W. P. KINSELLA A man generally has two reasons for doing a thing. One that sounds good, and a real one. J. P. MORGAN When you expect things to happen - strangely enough - they do happen. J. P. MORGAN Well, I don't know as I want a lawyer to tell me what I cannot do. I hire him to tell how to do ... J. P. MORGAN If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it. J. P. MORGAN No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing of a vague difficulty... J. P. MORGAN I got disappointed in human nature as well and gave it up because I found it too much like my own. J. P. DONLEAVY To marry the Irish is to look for poverty. J. P. DONLEAVY Writing is turning one's worst moments into money. J. P. DONLEAVY If I get stuck, I look at a book that tells me how someone else did it. I turn the pages, and then I... RICHARD P. FEYNMAN Because management deals mostly with the status quo and leadership deals mostly with change, in the ... JOHN P. KOTTER Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season,... P. T. BARNUM One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody's listening. FRANKLIN P. JONES Political systems are run by self-selecting politicians. We don't draft people; it's not jur... P. J. O'ROURKE To me there is no picture so beautiful as smiling, bright-eyed, happy children; no music so sweet as... P. T. BARNUM Toil without song is like a weary journey without an end. H. P. LOVECRAFT As president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, I have seen private equity firms plunder... JAMES P. HOFFA Politics and government are certainly among the most important of practical human interests. P. T. BARNUM In the United States, where we have more land than people, it is not at all difficult for persons in... P. T. BARNUM There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt. P. T. BARNUM Witchcraft is one of the most baseless, absurd, disgusting and silly of all the humbugs. P. T. BARNUM Men, women, and children who cannot live on gravity alone need something to satisfy their gayer, lig... P. T. BARNUM No man has a right to expect to succeed in life unless he understands his business, and nobody can u... P. T. BARNUM Science is the pursuit of pure truth, and the systematizing of it. P. T. BARNUM Unless a man enters upon the vocation intended for him by nature, and best suited to his peculiar ge... P. T. BARNUM Clowns are the pegs on which the circus is hung. P. T. BARNUM Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself. P. T. BARNUM There is no such thing in the world as luck. There never was a man who could go out in the morning a... P. T. BARNUM True economy consists in always making the income exceed the out-go. Wear the old clothes a little l... P. T. BARNUM He who is without a newspaper is cut off from his species. P. T. BARNUM Without promotion, something terrible happens... nothing! P. T. BARNUM Literature is one of the most interesting and significant expressions of humanity. P. T. BARNUM I have no discipline, which is a horrible flaw for any writer. Once I'm well started on a projec... P. N. ELROD Real people - the interesting ones, anyway - don't remain static, and neither do the ones I writ... P. N. ELROD Fame and fortune are as hard to find as a lightning strike. P. N. ELROD I think that 'Mary Poppins' needs a subtle reader, in many respects, to grasp all its implic... P. L. TRAVERS Nothing I had written before 'Mary Poppins' had anything to do with children, and I have alw... P. L. TRAVERS I've had quite a lot to conquer in myself apart from writing. Not that I've been a pure ange... P. L. TRAVERS My father died when I was 7. I was his favorite child, and he was my beloved father. I brought him a... P. L. TRAVERS I was brought up Irish, where there was room for my own private world. P. L. TRAVERS I never wrote my books especially for children. P. L. TRAVERS My family didn't like me going on the stage, and they didn't much like my being a writer, ei... P. L. TRAVERS You can ask me anything you like about my work, but I'll never talk about myself. P. L. TRAVERS Sorrow lies like a heartbeat behind everything I have written. P. L. TRAVERS For me, there are no answers, only questions, and I am grateful that the questions go on and on. I d... P. L. TRAVERS I cannot summon up inspiration; I myself am summoned. P. L. TRAVERS You do not chop off a section of your imaginative substance and make a book specifically for childre... P. L. TRAVERS I think the idea of 'Mary Poppins' has been blowing in and out of me, like a curtain at a wi... P. L. TRAVERS 'Friend Monkey' is really my favorite of all my books because the Hindu myth on which it is ... P. L. TRAVERS Every child needs to have for itself not only its loving parents and siblings and friends of its own... P. L. TRAVERS My mom is a sculptress. P. J. HARVEY I'm not an autobiographical writer, but I am a writer who deals with human emotion on all levels... P. J. HARVEY I've always felt that I'm affected by the world, by the way we treat each other, by the way ... P. J. HARVEY There's also a level of discipline I use as a writer, designed to get better at what I'm doi... P. J. HARVEY I'm probably much more influenced by film-makers and painters than I am by other songwriters or ... P. J. HARVEY I did photography, painting, and drawing, but I prefer sculpture. I like it because it's very ph... P. J. HARVEY I'm a very private person, so obviously I don't enjoy talking about more personal matters. P. J. HARVEY My father is actually a quarry man - he deals in stone. He also at one point had a lot of sheep, he ... P. J. HARVEY With songs I almost see the images, see the action, and then all I have to do is describe it. It'... P. J. HARVEY I decide immediately if I like a person and if I do, then I'm myself, and if I don't, then I... P. J. HARVEY I'm a Libra. That means that I can make a decision, but only after much thought. P. J. HARVEY There's so much you can do with laying words on a bed of music. You can completely change their ... P. J. HARVEY People have a tendency to see country life through rose-colored glasses. P. J. HARVEY It's so much in me to want to keep experimenting all the time. It's just inherent. Therefore... P. J. HARVEY Making me into a role model is placing too much importance on what I see as a work in progress. P. J. HARVEY I'm not a writer where I feel particularly blessed by great inspiration every day. I don't. ... P. J. HARVEY I work on words quite separately to music. They're both ongoing, and I don't ever feel like ... P. J. HARVEY There is nothing more boring than doing singing exercises. P. J. HARVEY People like Howlin' Wolf, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, John Lee Hooker, Nina Simone, Captain B... P. J. HARVEY I firmly disbelieve that one has to be a tortured soul to write good music. P. J. HARVEY I don't loathe interviews, I'm just one of those people who makes music because I find it di... P. J. HARVEY I think that's always very valuable: to keep the mind open to receiving all sorts of information... P. J. HARVEY I tried to use words that were dealing with the emotional quality that any human being could recogni... P. J. HARVEY I didn't know folk music growing up, no. It's something I've come to study, really, beca... P. J. HARVEY I've always been very visceral in that I feel things very deeply. P. J. HARVEY Every author really wants to have letters printed in the papers. Unable to make the grade, he drops ... P. G. WODEHOUSE It was my Uncle George who discovered that alcohol was a food well in advance of modern medical thou... P. G. WODEHOUSE I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don't know what I did before that. Just loafed I... P. G. WODEHOUSE Few of them were to be trusted within reach of a trowel and a pile of bricks. P. G. WODEHOUSE