
“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing”
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!
“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing”
“We never see other people anyway, only the monsters we make of them.”
Source: Zone One
“Maybe you're the same as me / We see things they'll never see / You and I are gonna live forever.”
Live Forever
Definitely Maybe (1994)
The Paris Review interview (2010)
Context: Three things are in your head: First, everything you have experienced from the day of your birth until right now. Every single second, every single hour, every single day. Then, how you reacted to those events in the minute of their happening, whether they were disastrous or joyful. Those are two things you have in your mind to give you material. Then, separate from the living experiences are all the art experiences you’ve had, the things you’ve learned from other writers, artists, poets, film directors, and composers. So all of this is in your mind as a fabulous mulch and you have to bring it out. How do you do that? I did it by making lists of nouns and then asking, What does each noun mean? You can go and make up your own list right now and it would be different than mine. The night. The crickets. The train whistle. The basement. The attic. The tennis shoes. The fireworks. All these things are very personal. Then, when you get the list down, you begin to word-associate around it. You ask, Why did I put this word down? What does it mean to me? Why did I put this noun down and not some other word? Do this and you’re on your way to being a good writer. You can’t write for other people. You can’t write for the left or the right, this religion or that religion, or this belief or that belief. You have to write the way you see things.
“Now that I've met you,
Would you object to
Never seeing each other again?”
"Deathly"
Song lyrics, Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture (1999)
Context: Now that I've met you,
Would you object to
Never seeing each other again?
'Cause I can't afford to
Climb aboard you.
No one's got that much ego to spend.So don't work your stuff,
Because I've got troubles enough.
No, don't pick on me
When one act of kindness could be
Deathly,
Deathly,
Definitely.
“Other people do not see you at all, but guess at you by uncertain conjectures.”
Source: The Complete Essays