Sunday, June 15, 2008 – Fear of the New
There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don’t know. ~ Ambrose Bierce
When I was praised I lost my time, for instantly I turned around to look at the work I had thought slightly of, and that day I made nothing new. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
If we do not find anything pleasant, at least we shall find something new. ~ Voltaire
Americans have been conditioned to respect newness, whatever it costs them. ~ John Updike
Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we’re all cowards. ~ Alberto Salazar
Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
While we deliberate about beginning it is all ready too late to begin. ~ Quintilian
It is a tremendous act of violence to begin anything. I am not able to begin. I simply skip what should be the beginning. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
The last thing one discovers in composing a work is what to put first. ~ Blaise Pascal
Style ain’t nothing but keeping the same idea from beginning to end. Everybody got it. ~ August Wilson
All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant’s revolving door. ~ Albert Camus
Almost everything comes from nothing. ~ Henry F. Amiel
In all matters, before beginning, a diligent preparation should be made. [In omnibus negotiis prius quam aggrediare, adhibenda est praeparatio diligens.] ~ Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero), De Officiis (I, 21)
First things first, second things never. ~ Shirley Conran
We live in a rainbow of chaos. ~ Paul Cézanne
Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not yet invented. ~ Henry Miller
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little course, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. ~ A. A. Milne
Nothing is ever done in this world until men are prepared to kill one another if it is not done. ~ George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara
When the wayfarer whistles in the dark, he may be disavowing his timidity, but he does not see any the more clearly for doing so. ~ Sigmund Freud
Women do not like timid men. Cats do not like prudent rats. ~ H.L. Mencken
Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness. ~ Robertson Davies
Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again. ~ Andre Gide
Just Above Sunset 