Susan's Thursday morning note October 9, 2014 Quotes & Poetry on Books & Reading
Good morning! Coffee. Spiderman leaving time after time down the hall with lunchbox. Lazy cats. Messy corners. Stacks of books waiting patiently to be entered. Home. Sweet sweet word. This week I read a poem on the sweetness of entering other worlds when we open books. Julia Donaldson won the Children’s Laureate award in Britain for her poetry in 2011. Following her poem are quotes I love on books and love for reading ending with another poem on entering the world of a children’s book by Robert Lewis Stevenson.
I Opened a Book – poetry by Julia Donaldson I opened a book and in I strode. Now nobody can find me. I’ve left my chair, my house, my road, My town and my world behind me. I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring, I’ve swallowed the magic potion. I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king And dived in a bottomless ocean. I opened a book and made some friends. I shared their tears and laughter And followed their road with its bumps and bends To the happily ever after. I finished my book and out I came. The cloak can no longer hide me. My chair and my house are just the same, But I have a book inside me. Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light. Vera Nazarian A book is a dream you hold in your hand. Neil Gaiman If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. Ralph Waldo Emerson Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. (unknown) If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. Haruki Murakamine Great books help you understand, and they help you feel understood. John Green There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read. Gilbert K Chsterton A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it. Edward P. Morgan A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading. William Styron I cannot sleep unless I am surrounded by books. Jorge Luis Borges Some books leave us free and some books make us free. Ralph Waldo Emerson Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. Frederick Douglas I would rather be a poor man in a garret with plenty of books than a king who did not love reading. Thomas Babington Macaulay In the best books great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours. William Ellery Channing The Land of Story-books by Robert Louis Stevenson At evening when the lamp is lit, Around the fire my parents sit; They sit at home and talk and sing, And do not play at anything. Now, with my little gun, I crawl All in the dark along the wall, And follow round the forest track Away behind the sofa back. There, in the night, where none can spy, All in my hunter’s camp I lie, And play at books that I have read Till it is time to go to bed. These are the hills, these are the woods, These are my starry solitudes; And there the river by whose brink The roaring lions come to drink. I see the others far away As if in firelit camp they lay, And I, like to an Indian scout, Around their party prowled about. So, when my nurse comes in for me, Home I return across the sea, And go to bed with backward looks At my dear land of Story-books. Thank you for letting me enter your Thursday morning again. The sand has run through our timers for another week...one little grain at a time each moment, but again, how quickly those moments seemed to pass. Today. Another gift. We will have the opportunity tonight to carve into stone the moments of today. Will we have moments worth inscribing? Will we give our attention to the little one showing us how he flies his spacemen around? Will we call a friend without having time to talk just to hear their voice for a minute? Will we notice the birds on the wires just enjoying their moment in life? Will we pick a leaf and press it in our book we’re reading? Will we notice the pumpkins? The gifts of this particular season? Regardless of fears. Regardless of realities. Will we notice the beautiful details of our reality? Life. Beautiful life. Thank you for letting me have our store – for coming over for your books and your gifts. How I love being here for you. I hope you can come over soon. Enter our door. Enter this reality in your life. Peaceful bookstore. Fun play area. Coffee. Friendship. Have a beautiful day! Susan Latin for this week: Ante lector morit quam millia vitas vivet. Autem ille, qui numquam legit, una vita sola digit. A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one. hominem unius libri timeo – I fear the man of a single book. Works Cited: Donaldson, Julia. Crazy Mayonnaisy Mum Poems. New York. MacMillan. 2005.