I began to write in an enclosed, self-confident literary culture. The poet's life stood in a burnished light in the Ireland of that time. Poets were still poor, had little sponsored work, and could not depend on a sympathetic reaction to their poetry. But the idea of the poet was honored.
Franschhoek - French Corner - is a place which serves South Africans as a kind of sophisticated fantasy, an alternative version of what life could be. The small town is enclosed by wild mountains, at this time of year blue and dusty green.
There is something powerful about singing to God as an act of worship, but it is time to reframe our perspective and our language to genuinely encompass all of life as worship.
The Earth has been lawned with life for something over 3.5 billion years. That's a span of time great enough to encompass some honest-to-goodness catastrophe. For example, 700 million years ago, Earth underwent a planet-wide deep freeze, with ice covering the oceans from the poles to the equator.
Imagine life without any algorithms at all, you wouldn't be able to do anything. This is already completely encompassing. We have a habit of over-trusting what mathematics or computer scientists tell us to do, without questioning it, too much faith in the magical power of analysis.
The applause was so loud and insistent that I had to respond with several encores. I was numb with happiness, when it was over, I knew that this alone must be my life and my world.
I don't walk off and come back for encores. I figure I can add four weeks to my life that way.
As his vice president for eight years, I learned more from Ronald Reagan than from anyone I encountered in all my years of public life.
Music is probably the only real magic I have encountered in my life. There's not some trick involved with it. It's pure and it's real. It moves, it heals, it communicates and does all these incredible things.
I feel like I've known Hunter S. Thompson for most of my life. I first encountered him in 1981, when I was 12.
The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
It's easier to write from my own life, and it's also more fun. I always write about relationships, for instance, whether they're romantic relationships, friendships, encounters... there's always a lesson to be learned from them.
So many people are looking at what's wrong, and I try to encourage them to look at what's right in their life. A lot of people have it a lot worse than you do.
I wouldn't ever say if you're having tough times then there must be something wrong with you or your attitude. Life's a fight. It's a good fight of faith. I encourage people to stay up, stay hopeful, stay faith-filled.
Things in themselves have no life in them. A car can't comfort or encourage you. A house means nothing if there's no life and love inside.
A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential.
Excellence encourages one about life generally; it shows the spiritual wealth of the world.
All my life, I've had a fear of being told what to say, so I'm not telling people what to think. I'm encouraging them to say what they think.
I sold a bunch of stuff. I sold Omaha Steaks, vacation packages... the worst, though, was Time Life Books, because no one wants Time Life Books. No one wants an 'Encyclopedia Brittanica' showing up at their house.
If a man neglects education, he walks lame to the end of his life.
