What I'm chewing right now
I like chewy quotes that make you think.
One or two sentences that capture a point in fine poetic imagery.
When done well, you can find endless value in a simple quote. Like this beauty:
Let go, or be dragged.
No idea who said that. Don't care. Look at it and let the thought carry you where it takes you. Come back to those five words once each day and you can find a new meaning in them every time.
You can find such pithy gems of polished insight from many sources. The better philosophers are masters at this. Surprising no one, so are good poets and novelists.
Frank Herbert's Dune series has them by the dozen. I'm reading Children of Dune at the moment, the third in the series. These books are overflowing with deep ideas. It's no wonder that even the first book is widely considered unfilmable. There's action, there's wild characters doing crazy stunts. There's plots and schemes and all kinds of intrigues.
But the books are built around a core of dialogue, heavy introspection, and deep reflection. Herbert was not shy about dropping big ideas into his cheap sci-fi.
Arnold and Stallone 80s action stories, they are not.
Some people can't stand that. If it's not delivering a fight scene and an explosion every 90 seconds, they lose interest.
I don't even disagree. I love me some fun action movies.
But there's room to appreciate thinking, too. Check this out -- you can like both.
Mind-blowing insight right there.
Maybe you find all this tedious and boring. If so, I'll remind you of another chewy favorite of mine:
Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you.
Be good & take it easy.
Matt Perryman
PS Drop by Night's Gate if you've got a minute and let me know what you want me to talk about on this week's Mattcast.