"Of all the feats of skill, the most difficult is that of being honest." - Marie de Beausacq
Marie-Laure de Beausacq writes: My grand-mother (Marie de Beausacq), used to sing with Debussy and was a model for Parisian mazazines: here, in Harper's Bazaar, dressed by Patou in 1925
I write: I believe this is the woman who also was an actress, noted for one of the Perils of Pauline silents. I am not sure if this woman is the author of this quote - it may have been an earlier woman of the same name who was perhaps her mother and a woman of letters in Paris.
"There is always a way to be honest without being brutal." - Arthur DobrinArthur Dobrin writes: I am Professor of Humanities at Hofstra University, on Long Island, New York. I began full-time in 1998 and was part-time for 10 years before that. My area is applied ethics (I teach courses in business and journalism ethics, as well as a course in ethics as it applies to everyday life). I also teach, now and then, a course on East African literature. I am also Leader Emeritus of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island, in Garden City. I was the Leader of the Society from 1968-2001. My wife Lyn and I were Peace Corps Volunteers in Kisii, Kenya, from 1965-1967. We both have written books based in Kenya.
"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition." - Freeman ThomasFreeman Thomas, born August 20, 1957, is an American automobile and industrial designer who has worked for Porsche, Volkswagen Group, DaimlerChrysler and Ford. In 1999, Thomas was appointed vice president of DaimlerChrysler Advanced Product Design Strategy, later beconing head of their Pacifica Advanced Design Center in 2002. At DaimlerChrysler he oversaw the design of several Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep concept cars and production models. Thomas moved to the Ford Motor Company, taking up the role of Director, Strategic Design for North America on 1 June 2005. He is responsible for developing product design strategies and concept vehicles for the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury Marques.
I know who holds my soul...I am under vows to the Master of Poets. God in this facet. I am under vows as was Hafiz, the Sufi mystic First Poet of Persia. From time to time one feature or another of my situation arises in a poem. Usually I say, Yup. That's true. Then, I say, that's not it though. Turn honesty into art. Yup. That's not it though, or else poems of fantasy and science fiction wouldn't count, and they do. Oh yes, they do. So do shape shifting stories and poems of whimsy. In this particular game it has to resolve into one thing, the poetical Theory of Everything.
Turn Honesty Into Art
The way this thing goes,
This poetry thing happened
And now I'm in vows
Like my man Hafiz
To turn honesty to art
Before the Lord, you,
All of you, spirit
Moving across my heart bones,
I turn in my grave.
Digging myself out
Or maybe digging me in,
Deeper into God.
Written 1/01/2009 7:11 PM
Poem first posted, Friday, May 15, 2009
There are worse vows to take.
ReplyDeleteAlso, that idea of digging into God, rather than traditional verb-prepositions ("getting closer to" or whatever), I really like that. Brings the earth connection and the physicality of everything much closer.
Now that's downright spooky. You jumped on this post in between my first posting attempt and my final posting to adjust spacing a little. I like it that you approve of my vows and my actions, digging in or out, whatever.
ReplyDeleteI like your poem and the mention of Chrysler. Even though every major auto manufacturer has a team and puts their name on a car, the engines running all the top fuel drag cars, are in fact Chrysler motors.
ReplyDeleteYou almost have to halve two half's to do it right. One hand digging in while the other is digging out to keep the ballast just right to stay on best plane.
Spooky is right (I read it they way it was first posted) the ashalion of spooky (like your word verifier)
Great quotes here Christopher. I'm always a little suspicious of someone when they say, 'to tell you honestly...' as if up till now they have been dishonest.
ReplyDeleteHonesty is hard to achieve.
I have to be honest.
ReplyDeleteMy lies are transparent enough
to pass as truths.
Do you think God has use
for an old con man
turned straight shooter?
(Word verification: onastes. It made me smile.)
I think it is cool how word ver. turns "mine" when it is clever. It is one of the few things on the planet that turns out to be mine when it is better than average. Most things are less "mine" the better they are!
ReplyDeleteElisabeth, there are several phrasings in English that I have to not think about to understand. If I try to think about them, they just get confusing. My favorite, "I could care less," and "I could not care less," both mean the same thing in context and I never know which one is actually right.
We know in actuality what the gist is. But as you point out, only if we refuse to think about such things. Sometimes using language is like walking and is best left unconscious.
Andreas, God loves the old con man and hopes he doesn't get too straight since nature abhors straight lines. Nature's shortest distance between two points looks like a wacky decision tree. Follow a blood vein and then tell me what a straight shooter looks like. That is the Godly straight line, or the meander of the river is.
the poetical Theory of Everything, perhaps one of my favorite things you've ever said.
ReplyDeleteand that last stanza is perfect. we can be very busy digging and convinced it's in the right direction and not be so sure, exactly where we're digging to, but no matter what, if we're digging, it's gona be toward the poetical theory of everything: truth, beauty, god.
xo
erin
ok, what you just wrote here to andreas is a piece unto itself. a beautiful piece. i see it married to two photographs, one of the form of tree and another of the lines of a skull. just now thinking on how a skull comes together seems like a prayer.
ReplyDeletexo
erin
Okay, Erin, the second time...a woman named Marie-Laure Ridet de Beausacq contacted me and wrote she was pleased that I had used her grand grandmother's quote and shared reasonably accurately about her ancestors. For the life of me, I accept this is probably the real thing since I can't imagine why someone would be making this up. I have been touched. How cool.
ReplyDeleteIt is also true somehow that my pageviews have tripled. This happened overnight a week ago. I don't know what it means since no one is commenting.
Marie joins Elena Dudina in my "how cool is that" category. I have no idea what search feedback engine is in use by Marie. I kind of understand how Elena found out.