I am a person who continually destroys the possibilities of a future because of the numbers of alternative viewpoints I can focus on the present.
Doris LessingRead
Whenever I met anyone who knew anything, I would bore them stiff until they told me what they knew.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the value of knowledge and the desire to learn from others.
Doris Lessing's quote emphasizes the importance of curiosity and the relentless pursuit of knowledge. It highlights a proactive approach to learning, where the speaker actively engages with knowledgeable individuals to extract valuable insights. The quote suggests that one should never hesitate to ask questions and seek information, as knowledge is a powerful tool for personal growth.
In practice
In a classroom setting to encourage students to engage with knowledgeable guests.
I am a person who continually destroys the possibilities of a future because of the numbers of alternative viewpoints I can focus on the present.
In the writing process, the more the story cooks, the better. The brain works for you even when you are at rest. I find dreams particularly useful. I myself think a great deal before I go to sleep and the details sometimes unfold in the dream.
Humanity's legacy of stories and storytelling is the most precious we have. All wisdom is in our stories and songs. A story is how we construct our experiences. At the very simplest, it can be: 'He/she was born, lived, died.' Probably that is the template of our stories - a beginning, middle, and end. This structure is in our minds.
There is a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them in yourself and be conscious of them.
The World War I, I'm a child of World War I. And I really know about the children of war. Because both my parents were both badly damaged by the war. My father, physically, and both mentally and emotionally. So, I know exactly what it's like to be brought up in an atmosphere of a continual harping on the war.
You should write, first of all, to please yourself. You shouldn't care a damn about anybody else at all. But writing can't be a way of life - the important part of writing is living. You have to live in such a way that your writing emerges from it.
But the indeterminate future is somehow one in which probability and statistics are the dominant modality for making sense of the world. Bell curves and random walks define what the future is going to look like. The standard pedagogical argument is that high schools should get rid of calculus and replace it with statistics, which is really important and actually useful. There has been a powerful shift toward the idea that statistical ways of thinking are going to drive the future.
I grew up in a segregated community: I couldn't go to the public schools, beaches, certain parts of town.
Over a long period of time, the main force in favor of greater equality has been the diffusion of knowledge and skills.
From a good book, I want to be taken to the very edge. I want a glimpse into that outer darkness.
Writers don't give prescriptions. They give headaches!
The child who has been taught to make an accurate elevation, plan, and section of a pint pot has had an admirable training in accuracy of eye and hand.
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