“A great work of the imagination is one of the highest forms of communication of truth that mankind has reached. But a great piece of literature does not try to coerce you to believe it or to agree with it. A great piece of literature simply is. It is a vehicle of truth, but it… Continue reading What is truth?
Tag: philosophy of life
Burning the Creative Flame
“There are educationists (as jargon has it) who think that creativity itself can be taught, and who write learned, and frequently dull, treatises on methods of teaching it. It is rather as though they were trying to eat air, with the usual result. The creative impulse, like love, can be killed, but it cannot be… Continue reading Burning the Creative Flame
A Special Place
Do you have a special place? Madeleine L’Engle’s is a spot by a brook, out past the lawn, trees, stone wall, and apple trees on her Crosswicks property. “Ontology: the word about the essence of things; the word about being. I go to the brook because I get out of being, out of the essential. … Continue reading A Special Place
Wise Words
I am reading A Circle of Quiet, by Madeleine L’Engle. How I wish she was still alive! I would love to sit down with her over lunch and discuss books and ideas. She had so many wise things to say. Here is just one of them: “A great painting, or symphony, or play, doesn’t diminish… Continue reading Wise Words
From the Marshmallow Critic
What is it about me that won’t allow me to leave a book unfinished, even if the book is boring or badly written? Part of it is that I just have to see how the story ends. Part of it is that when I read a book, I’m not just experiencing the story, I am… Continue reading From the Marshmallow Critic
Carol Nicolas 