“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.”
― William Blake
Art by the man of imagination – Vladimir Kush.
Nowhither = to or toward no place.
“Some of us look for the Way in opium and some in God, some of us in whiskey and some in love. It is all the same Way and it leads nowhither.”
― W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil
Art by Rafal Olbinski.
Waft = to move lightly through the air.
“A well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way.”
― Caroline Gordon
Art – another magical illustrations by Christian Schloe.
I have failed in everything: biking, I have fallen manifold; swimming, as I cannot yet, after many attempts; roller skating, I broke an arm, moreover my knees and ankles aren’t well and happy either; also at boxing I hurt my knuckles and wrist, even if only my punching bag was involved.
I have failed in communicating with some tremendously amazing people.
I have failed in my first business and in my present business as I haven’t fulfilled all my predictions.
I haven’t failed in one thing: in doing what I love and “cropping” my own type of life everyday. And in eating glass…
“Starting a company is like staring into the abyss and eating glass.”
–Elon Musk (allegedly quoting a friend).
Art by Rafal Olbinski.
Peter out = to gradually become smaller, quieter, etc. and then end.
“Some of my plays peter out and some pan out.”
– James M. Barrie
Art by Trina Schart Hyman for Peter Pan.
“No one and nothing can harm us, child, except what we fear and love.”
― Sigrid Undset, Norwegian – recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.
I illustrate with Errol Le Cain‘s art for The Snow Queen.
Nadir = 1.That point of the heavens, or lower hemisphere, directly opposite the zenith; the inferior pole of the horizon; the point of the celestial sphere directly under the place where we stand.
= 2.The lowest point; the time of greatest depression.
“Sometimes the worst brings out the best in you. Sometimes the lowest tide ushers in the biggest change. Sometimes the gravest wounds translate into deepest wisdom. Sometimes the nadir leads you to the zenith. All you need to do is to Hold On.” –Manprit Kaur
Art by Michael Cheval – Sunset Tango.
“Do you know that every perfect life would mean the end of art?”
– Robert Musil – author of The Man Without Qualities.
I have started my poems out of an imperfect heart. I have started my business out of an imperfect life wanting to do more – for me and for others.
Every person enters your life fighting the same conundrum. Your art can touch their souls and perfect some angles. Your magic might cast some threads in the community and create a better life.
Craving for the perfect life as illustrated by John Singer Sargent.
Dither = to delay taking actions because you are not sure about what to do.
“Anyone who still wants to experience fairytales these days can’t afford to dither when it comes to using their brains.”
– Robert Musil – author of The Man Without Qualities.
As fairytales got mentioned, I illustrate with Tim Kirk‘s art for the Hobbit by J.R.R.Tolkien.
“The lesson for the small is: be human! Accept that being human involves
some amount of epistemic arrogance in running your affairs. Do not be
ashamed of that. Do not try to always withhold judgment—opinions are
the stuff of life. Do not try to avoid predicting—yes, after this diatribe
about prediction I am not urging you to stop being a fool. Just be a fool in
the right places.*
What you should avoid is unnecessary dependence on large-scale
harmful predictions—those and only those. Avoid the big subjects that
may hurt your future: be fooled in small matters, not in the large. Do not
listen to economic forecasters or to predictors in social science (they are
mere entertainers), but do make your own forecast for the picnic. By all
means, demand certainty for the next picnic; but avoid government social security
forecasts for the year 2040.
Know how to rank beliefs not according to their plausibility but by the
harm they may cause.”
–Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
I illustrate with a beautiful car* (which makes me a fool in the right place as I know nothing of cars) by the British painter Alan Fearnley.