June 12th, 2007 Riley
The Quote: “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have an apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”
So simple and yet so freaking awesome. Any material possession that we can acquire in this world, and don’t get me wrong, there are things that I want, depreciates instantly upon purchase. Except for real estate, but that’s only because this country is getting truly out of control with inflation. But clothing, media, electronics, and all of those other household-type things become worth less the moment they pass through our hands. And we will likely get bored with them too, and then they are worth nothing to us either.
This quote encompasses a lot of what creativity is about for me. You make something from nothingness and it instantaneously has infinite worth. The more that is created, the more worth the world has overall. When people share ideas and creations, everyone gets richer.
But day-to-day life is mostly about acquiring, not creating. And most people are more concerned with investing than inventing. Some may grow in wealth, but they remain part of a human race that is continually growing poorer in substance. It requires too much effort to fashion precious metal, so we mass-produce fool’s gold and we all tarnish.
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June 7th, 2007 Riley
I have been working on a screenplay, a romantic comedy believe it or not, that required a George Bernard Shaw quote. Quoting a 19th and early 20th century Irish, socialist playwright as a plot device… and I wonder why Hollywood hasn’t snapped me up yet! In my search for the perfect Shaw quote for my script, I came upon so many great nuggets by the man that I was inspired to blog him.
(Off the cuff Suggestion: Say you are going to “blog” someone to an older person in your life, like a grandparent, and see the kind of reaction you get. It sounds like something you would never want your kids walking in on you doing.)
So, anyway, in honor of the great quotes I came across, I hereby commence my new series, The Shaw Entries. Without further ado, and with only a modicum of unnecessary words, *drum roll here*, The Shaw Entry, part 1 -
The Quote: “The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”
Maybe it is because I am so often considered a cynical person by, well, everyone that this quote hit me in the stomach like a sucker punch from Muhammad Ali, but I still say it’s true. Sure, being angry, clenching your teeth, and banging shit around may be no way to find pleasure in the day-to-day, you might even break something or end up with lockjaw, but sometimes it is not only justified, it’s necessary. And as often as people have this thought about me: “It’s sad, really, that she is never going to find contentment, thinking like she does,” I think this about them: “Is anyone else paying any fucking attention?!?”
Wow. Hard to believe I’ve been working on that romantic comedy huh?
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