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Pebbles on the Shore
Who are these spirits? In choosing them it is necessary to avoid the deep-browed argumentative fellows. I do not want Plato or Gibbon or any of the learned brotherhood by my bedside, nor the poets, nor the novelists, nor the dramatists, nor even the professional humorists. These are all capital fellows in their way, but let them stay downstairs. To the intimacy of the bedside I admit only the kindly fellows who come in their dressing-gowns and slippers, so to speak, and sit down and just talk to you as though they had known you ever since you were a little nipper, and your father and your grandfather before you. Of course, there is old Montaigne.
254 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1916
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 15, 2012
Very thought provoking and interesting to read snippets from 100 years ago that I myself have pondered over the last few years.
January 3, 2023
Thoughts, funny and serious, from over 100 years ago. Many of which still hold true today, at least in sentiment or metaphorically. Some excerpts:
On Letter-Writing
"Carlyle saw that the advent of the penny post would kill the letter by making it cheap ... He was right, and the telegraph, the telephone, and the typewriter have completed the destruction of the art of letter-writing. It is the difficulty or scarcity of a thing which makes it treasured."
On Slackening the Bow
"The bigger the job you have in hand the more necessary it is to cultivate the art of detachment. You want to walk away from the subject sometimes, as the artist walks away from his canvas to get a better view of his work ... It is with the mind as with the soil. If you want to get the best out of your land you must change the crops, and sometimes even let the land lie fallow."
I'm Telling You
"One was emphatic and dogmatic - 'I'm not asking you, I'm telling you'. The other was winning and conciliatory ... with the dogmatic man ..You are no longer concerned with whether the thing is right or wrong .. You are concerned by showing your opponent that you are not to be bullied by him. Franklin .. preferred the Socratic method .. instead of expressing opinions, he asked leading questions.... He ceased to use words like 'certainly' .. or anything which gave an air of positiveness to an opinion .. and said 'I apprehend' or 'I conceive' "
On Wearing a Fur-Lined Cost
"If I bought a fur-lined coat I know I should want to buy a motor-car to keep it company ... It would not be possible to slip into your favourite little restaurant in Soho to take you simple chop"
On Letter-Writing
"Carlyle saw that the advent of the penny post would kill the letter by making it cheap ... He was right, and the telegraph, the telephone, and the typewriter have completed the destruction of the art of letter-writing. It is the difficulty or scarcity of a thing which makes it treasured."
On Slackening the Bow
"The bigger the job you have in hand the more necessary it is to cultivate the art of detachment. You want to walk away from the subject sometimes, as the artist walks away from his canvas to get a better view of his work ... It is with the mind as with the soil. If you want to get the best out of your land you must change the crops, and sometimes even let the land lie fallow."
I'm Telling You
"One was emphatic and dogmatic - 'I'm not asking you, I'm telling you'. The other was winning and conciliatory ... with the dogmatic man ..You are no longer concerned with whether the thing is right or wrong .. You are concerned by showing your opponent that you are not to be bullied by him. Franklin .. preferred the Socratic method .. instead of expressing opinions, he asked leading questions.... He ceased to use words like 'certainly' .. or anything which gave an air of positiveness to an opinion .. and said 'I apprehend' or 'I conceive' "
On Wearing a Fur-Lined Cost
"If I bought a fur-lined coat I know I should want to buy a motor-car to keep it company ... It would not be possible to slip into your favourite little restaurant in Soho to take you simple chop"
July 30, 2019
A truly wonderful read. Say no more
December 30, 2019
Bought this beautiful little book in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.
September 5, 2021
The bouquet of essays are elegant, graceful, humorous and thought provoking. It is an excellent read and is relevant even after hundred years. It is a must read book.
August 25, 2014
Remember reading this some time back. Several delightful essays here on any topic which seems to have struck the fancy of the writer. Freely available on gutenberg.
September 18, 2014
A beautiful collection of essays over random topics ......sweet , carefree intellectual abandon !!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews