Victoria Saccenti's Blog
April 23, 2017
Friday's Word
Now that the manuscript for Destiny's Way, book 3 of the Destiny's Series is in the capable hands of Linda Ingmanson, editor extraordinaire, I can return to the world of the living and resume a favorite activity, Friday's word, and important quotes. I couldn't think of a more appropriate word to restart my end-of-the-week tradition than...you guessed it:
Muse
noun: A source of inspiration
verb intr.: To be absorbed in thought.
verb tr.: To think or say something thoughtfully
noun 2: A state of deep thought
Etymology:
In Greek Mythology the Muses were nine minor goddesses, daughters of rascally Zeus and Mnemosyne—the most popular version—who presided over the arts and studies, remembered all knowledge, and entertained the gods in Olympus. In our modern culture, we're familiar with Kleio, Terpsikhore, Kalliope, and most notably Erato, goddess of erotic poetry, as the rise in Erotica literature indicates. Here is an interesting note, museum, is the Latin term for a shrine dedicated to the Muses.
Mousai means Muses in Greek. http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Mousai.... The linked page contains a plethora of information about the goddesses, several myths, and legends regarding their origins, their following, and centers of worship throughout the ancient world. In addition, a Muse can be a personal creative spirit. Mine, the one I honor today, lives here. I try to make her chamber as pretty and comfortable as possible.
The last definition comes from the French language muser (to meditate, to idle) earliest use dates to 1500 or thereabouts.
Important quotes:
History may be read as the story of the magnificent rearguard action fought during several thousand years by dogma against curiosity. ~ Robert Lynd, writer (20 Apr 1879-1949)
There is a beauty in discovery. There is mathematics in music, a kinship of science and poetry in the description of nature, and exquisite form in a molecule. Attempts to place different disciplines in different camps are revealed as artificial in the face of the unity of knowledge. All literate men are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the political analyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan, and the musician. ~ Glenn T. Seaborg, scientist, Nobel laureate (19 Apr 1912-1999)
Neither great poverty nor great riches will hear reason. ~ Henry Fielding, author (21 Apr 1707-1754)
Muse
noun: A source of inspiration
verb intr.: To be absorbed in thought.
verb tr.: To think or say something thoughtfully
noun 2: A state of deep thought
Etymology:
In Greek Mythology the Muses were nine minor goddesses, daughters of rascally Zeus and Mnemosyne—the most popular version—who presided over the arts and studies, remembered all knowledge, and entertained the gods in Olympus. In our modern culture, we're familiar with Kleio, Terpsikhore, Kalliope, and most notably Erato, goddess of erotic poetry, as the rise in Erotica literature indicates. Here is an interesting note, museum, is the Latin term for a shrine dedicated to the Muses.
Mousai means Muses in Greek. http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Mousai.... The linked page contains a plethora of information about the goddesses, several myths, and legends regarding their origins, their following, and centers of worship throughout the ancient world. In addition, a Muse can be a personal creative spirit. Mine, the one I honor today, lives here. I try to make her chamber as pretty and comfortable as possible.
The last definition comes from the French language muser (to meditate, to idle) earliest use dates to 1500 or thereabouts.
Important quotes:
History may be read as the story of the magnificent rearguard action fought during several thousand years by dogma against curiosity. ~ Robert Lynd, writer (20 Apr 1879-1949)
There is a beauty in discovery. There is mathematics in music, a kinship of science and poetry in the description of nature, and exquisite form in a molecule. Attempts to place different disciplines in different camps are revealed as artificial in the face of the unity of knowledge. All literate men are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the political analyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan, and the musician. ~ Glenn T. Seaborg, scientist, Nobel laureate (19 Apr 1912-1999)
Neither great poverty nor great riches will hear reason. ~ Henry Fielding, author (21 Apr 1707-1754)
August 14, 2015
Weekend Quotes
With the upcoming release of Destiny's Plan, promotion for the book on Social Media, and ensuring the manuscript has been formatted, approved and is ready for release, the comment: life has been hectic, it's an understatement. Despite all that craziness, I've found some quotes I hope you will find interesting.
By the age of six, the average child will have completed the basic American education. ... From television, the child will have learned how to pick a lock, commit a fairly elaborate bank holdup, prevent wetness all day long, get the laundry twice as white, and kill people with a variety of sophisticated armaments.
~ Russell Banker
The Supreme Ethical Rule: Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself.
~Felix Adler.
I hate with a murderous hatred those men who, having lived their youth, would send into war other youth, not lived, unfulfilled, to fight and die for them; the pride and cowardice of those old men, making wars that boys must die.
~Mary Roberts Rinehart
Every government has as much of a duty to avoid war as a ship's captain has to avoid a shipwreck.
~Guy de Maupassant
In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds.
~Robert Green Ingersoll
I like the pluralism of modernity; it doesn't threaten me or my faith. And if one's faith is dependent on being reinforced in every aspect of other people's lives, then it is a rather insecure faith, don't you thing?
~Andrew Sullivan
It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars.
~Garrison Keillor
There are none so sour as those who are sweet to order.
~Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues
Ah! what a divine religion might be found out if charity were really made the principle of it instead of faith.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley
And with Shelley's admirable thought, I close the weekend quotes. Have a blessed weekend.
By the age of six, the average child will have completed the basic American education. ... From television, the child will have learned how to pick a lock, commit a fairly elaborate bank holdup, prevent wetness all day long, get the laundry twice as white, and kill people with a variety of sophisticated armaments.
~ Russell Banker
The Supreme Ethical Rule: Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself.
~Felix Adler.
I hate with a murderous hatred those men who, having lived their youth, would send into war other youth, not lived, unfulfilled, to fight and die for them; the pride and cowardice of those old men, making wars that boys must die.
~Mary Roberts Rinehart
Every government has as much of a duty to avoid war as a ship's captain has to avoid a shipwreck.
~Guy de Maupassant
In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds.
~Robert Green Ingersoll
I like the pluralism of modernity; it doesn't threaten me or my faith. And if one's faith is dependent on being reinforced in every aspect of other people's lives, then it is a rather insecure faith, don't you thing?
~Andrew Sullivan
It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars.
~Garrison Keillor
There are none so sour as those who are sweet to order.
~Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues
Ah! what a divine religion might be found out if charity were really made the principle of it instead of faith.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley
And with Shelley's admirable thought, I close the weekend quotes. Have a blessed weekend.
August 1, 2015
Weekend Quotes
The trip to the RWA convention in New York was rewarding, unforgettable, and worth every exhausting minute despite the nonstop activity. The hectic pace began as soon as the featured morning speaker uttered her last word. In the typical behavior of the Big Apple, and quite similar to anxious thoroughbreds waiting for the gates to lift we took off toward the escalators, hoping to maintain a graceful and dignified exterior as we took two steps at a time.
Through it all we moved at high speed, busy little bees, from one floor to the next, crowding the stairs and elevators, hoping to catch an empty chair at a popular, super-crowded workshop and losing our adult poise when forced to sit on the floor like a ten-year-old. Then, at the end of the day the rush resumed as we fought the throngs in Times Square to reach the haven of our hotel rooms.
For the visually stimulated folks, I will post a couple of photos of TS in the peaceful early morning hours. No one in their right mind would try to take photos in the midst of hundreds of tourists.
Despite the exhilaration, chapter festivities, and information overload —and believe me we did receive tons of valuable information — I missed posting the weekend entry of thought provoking quotes.
Really.
Every Friday, a strange phenomenon occurs. As I search, select and type the quotes for the blog, it becomes a personal experience. I dwell in the message and enjoy the motivation, the essence of what created the notion in the thinker, twice.
Today I feel the Universe in motion, I have no way to quantify this statement or prove it in any way. But in order to stay true to my feelings I must open the blog a bit differently, not with a quote but two words of Hebrew origin that evoke— at least in me—visions of monumental, mythical creatures, and hellish events. Words I used in two critical times in Destiny's Plan.
Leviathan: Something large and powerful. Via Latin from Hebrew liwyathan (whale). Earliest documented use: 1382
Gehenna: Hell. Any place of extreme torture or suffering.
Now the quotes:
Trust is the first step to love. ~Munshi Premchand
A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers. ~Robert Quillen
I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.
~Marcel Duchamp
Euphemism is a euphemism for lying. ~Bobbie Gentry
Language is like money, without which specific relative values may well exist and be felt, but cannot be reduced to a common denominator.
~George Santayana
Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace. The soul that knows it not, knows no release from little things.
~Amelia Earhart.
There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art, science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science, art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous.
~Raymond Thornton Chandler
What is done to children, they will do to society.
~Karl A. Menninger.
From my humble point of view, we would all do well to remember the last quote.
Through it all we moved at high speed, busy little bees, from one floor to the next, crowding the stairs and elevators, hoping to catch an empty chair at a popular, super-crowded workshop and losing our adult poise when forced to sit on the floor like a ten-year-old. Then, at the end of the day the rush resumed as we fought the throngs in Times Square to reach the haven of our hotel rooms.
For the visually stimulated folks, I will post a couple of photos of TS in the peaceful early morning hours. No one in their right mind would try to take photos in the midst of hundreds of tourists.
Despite the exhilaration, chapter festivities, and information overload —and believe me we did receive tons of valuable information — I missed posting the weekend entry of thought provoking quotes.
Really.
Every Friday, a strange phenomenon occurs. As I search, select and type the quotes for the blog, it becomes a personal experience. I dwell in the message and enjoy the motivation, the essence of what created the notion in the thinker, twice.
Today I feel the Universe in motion, I have no way to quantify this statement or prove it in any way. But in order to stay true to my feelings I must open the blog a bit differently, not with a quote but two words of Hebrew origin that evoke— at least in me—visions of monumental, mythical creatures, and hellish events. Words I used in two critical times in Destiny's Plan.
Leviathan: Something large and powerful. Via Latin from Hebrew liwyathan (whale). Earliest documented use: 1382
Gehenna: Hell. Any place of extreme torture or suffering.
Now the quotes:
Trust is the first step to love. ~Munshi Premchand
A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers. ~Robert Quillen
I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.
~Marcel Duchamp
Euphemism is a euphemism for lying. ~Bobbie Gentry
Language is like money, without which specific relative values may well exist and be felt, but cannot be reduced to a common denominator.
~George Santayana
Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace. The soul that knows it not, knows no release from little things.
~Amelia Earhart.
There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art, science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science, art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous.
~Raymond Thornton Chandler
What is done to children, they will do to society.
~Karl A. Menninger.
From my humble point of view, we would all do well to remember the last quote.
July 11, 2015
In Memoriam
I could not begin the Thoughts For The Weekend post without saying a few words about Omar Sharif, the Franco-Egyptian actor who took his final bow on July 10th 2015, to join his colleagues in Thespian Heaven. In fact, he may take up the entire post. It's my personal tribute to an actor I've admired since my childhood days.
From the quintessential, drool worthy Arab, the charming Mr. Arnstein in Funny Girl, to the broody and conflicted Dr. Zhivago, Mr. Sharif broke the mold and left a wonderful acting legacy behind. I say he broke the mold, because from the moment he appeared in Lawrence of Arabia, this dark, handsome, masculine pheromones-oozing actor made just about every female in the cinema room swoon -- yes, there are a lot of repeated o's but it's no accident, he deserves them all. And the minute he spoke, with that soft, caressing accent of his, we were all goners.
I hope I don't sound like women from the silent cinema era who used to fawn over Valentino and his legendary role "The Sheik". But with all due respect to his fans and Mr. Valentino, Mr. Sharif shattered that image to tiny ribbons. I'll challenge the ladies in the room who are too young to remember Lawrence of Arabia to rent the DVD, if you can find it, then check out YouTube for a snipet of The Sheik by Valentino. Hmm...right. Now you understand.
Perhaps we can attribute the charm -- which he had in spades -- to his mixed heritage. Does it really matter? Not to this girl, when I saw him last in Hidalgo, I would have gladly shared his tent. And that is a lot to say, especially when Viggo Mortensen had the leading role.
I don't have images of Omar Sharif to illustrate my point without breaking any copyright rules. In this link to The Telegraph, you will find some wonderful photographs. However, I did find a few quotes indicative of the man. Here he is, Omar Sharif:
On his prowess as a lover.
"See these hands? They are old. But they are soft. Only good for caressing."
On Sex.
"Making Love? It's a communion with a woman. The bed is our holy table. There I find passion and purification."
On being cast by David Lean in Lawrence of Arabia.
"They chose me for Lawrence of Arabia because I spoke English, had black hair, black eyes, and a mustache. It was all luck.
"I was taken in a plane to the desert to meet David, and as we came in to land we could see him sitting all by himself. We landed right next to him, but he didn't move one step. When I got off the place, he didn't say 'hello'. He simply walked round me to see my profile. Finally, he said 'That's very good, Omar. Let's go to the make-up tent.' I tried on a mustache, and it was decided I would grow one. I've shaved it off for a couple of films, but otherwise I've had it ever since."
On women.
"I can't say I gave up totally my passion for women, but almost."
One more.
"I don't know what sex appeal is. I don't think you can have sex appeal knowingly. The people who seduce me personally are the people who seem not to know they're seductive, and not to know they have sex appeal."
It strikes me that the last quote could personify him to the hilt. Did he truly understand his charisma? That is an interesting question and one I'll never have the opportunity to ask.
Adieu, Mr. Sharif. Rest In Peace.
From the quintessential, drool worthy Arab, the charming Mr. Arnstein in Funny Girl, to the broody and conflicted Dr. Zhivago, Mr. Sharif broke the mold and left a wonderful acting legacy behind. I say he broke the mold, because from the moment he appeared in Lawrence of Arabia, this dark, handsome, masculine pheromones-oozing actor made just about every female in the cinema room swoon -- yes, there are a lot of repeated o's but it's no accident, he deserves them all. And the minute he spoke, with that soft, caressing accent of his, we were all goners.
I hope I don't sound like women from the silent cinema era who used to fawn over Valentino and his legendary role "The Sheik". But with all due respect to his fans and Mr. Valentino, Mr. Sharif shattered that image to tiny ribbons. I'll challenge the ladies in the room who are too young to remember Lawrence of Arabia to rent the DVD, if you can find it, then check out YouTube for a snipet of The Sheik by Valentino. Hmm...right. Now you understand.
Perhaps we can attribute the charm -- which he had in spades -- to his mixed heritage. Does it really matter? Not to this girl, when I saw him last in Hidalgo, I would have gladly shared his tent. And that is a lot to say, especially when Viggo Mortensen had the leading role.
I don't have images of Omar Sharif to illustrate my point without breaking any copyright rules. In this link to The Telegraph, you will find some wonderful photographs. However, I did find a few quotes indicative of the man. Here he is, Omar Sharif:
On his prowess as a lover.
"See these hands? They are old. But they are soft. Only good for caressing."
On Sex.
"Making Love? It's a communion with a woman. The bed is our holy table. There I find passion and purification."
On being cast by David Lean in Lawrence of Arabia.
"They chose me for Lawrence of Arabia because I spoke English, had black hair, black eyes, and a mustache. It was all luck.
"I was taken in a plane to the desert to meet David, and as we came in to land we could see him sitting all by himself. We landed right next to him, but he didn't move one step. When I got off the place, he didn't say 'hello'. He simply walked round me to see my profile. Finally, he said 'That's very good, Omar. Let's go to the make-up tent.' I tried on a mustache, and it was decided I would grow one. I've shaved it off for a couple of films, but otherwise I've had it ever since."
On women.
"I can't say I gave up totally my passion for women, but almost."
One more.
"I don't know what sex appeal is. I don't think you can have sex appeal knowingly. The people who seduce me personally are the people who seem not to know they're seductive, and not to know they have sex appeal."
It strikes me that the last quote could personify him to the hilt. Did he truly understand his charisma? That is an interesting question and one I'll never have the opportunity to ask.
Adieu, Mr. Sharif. Rest In Peace.
July 3, 2015
Quotes for the Weekend
It's Friday and that means Quotes for the Weekend. Jefferson and Kafka's quotes are worthy of careful reflection and thought. I see both as visionary advice reaching out to us from the past, to help us craft a better future. It is the guidance we all wish we had when making tough decisions, it is comforting to know they exist. Jefferson should never be rushed. His words should be savored delicately like fine wine or gourmet food. Kafka as always shoots straight to the heart of the matter, it is a sledgehammer of possibilities pounding on hard set cement. Nevertheless, just because it is a short line, it still carries a ton of wisdom. Here we go:
Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the arc of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment. I knew that age well; I belonged to it, and labored with it. It deserved of its country. It was like the present, but without the experience of the present; and forty years of experience in government is worth a century of book-reading; and this they would say themselves, were they to rise from the dead. I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.
~ Thomas Jefferson
A book must be an axe for the frozen sea inside of us.
~ Franz Kafka
It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard.
~ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Life is a jest, and all things show it, / I thought so once, and now I know it.
~ John Gay
A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.
~ Kahlil Gibran
Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.
~Blaise Pascal
Pascal's quote is troublesome because it speaks a mighty truth. I have often wondered why Men do such terrible things in the name of religion. And yet, most religions I know, preach love, kindness, forgiveness, and understanding. If so, is religion the impetus for evil, or is religion the flag flourished by some men to justify their need for evil deeds?
With that thought in mind, I will add another in counterpoint:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
~ Edmund Burke
Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the arc of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment. I knew that age well; I belonged to it, and labored with it. It deserved of its country. It was like the present, but without the experience of the present; and forty years of experience in government is worth a century of book-reading; and this they would say themselves, were they to rise from the dead. I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.
~ Thomas Jefferson
A book must be an axe for the frozen sea inside of us.
~ Franz Kafka
It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard.
~ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Life is a jest, and all things show it, / I thought so once, and now I know it.
~ John Gay
A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.
~ Kahlil Gibran
Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.
~Blaise Pascal
Pascal's quote is troublesome because it speaks a mighty truth. I have often wondered why Men do such terrible things in the name of religion. And yet, most religions I know, preach love, kindness, forgiveness, and understanding. If so, is religion the impetus for evil, or is religion the flag flourished by some men to justify their need for evil deeds?
With that thought in mind, I will add another in counterpoint:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
~ Edmund Burke
