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JANE BOWLES ~ I AM A WRITER…

in The words that make sense... brilliant writings by writers... by
Jane Bowles American Writer

 

“I am a writer and I want to write.”
― Jane Bowles

 

Jane Bowles with her little dog.

Fear and Hope

“Like most people, you are not able to face more than one fear during your lifetime. You also spend your life fleeing from your first fear towards your first hope. Be careful that you do not, through your own wiliness, end up always in the same position in which you began. I do not advise you to spend your life surrounding yourself with those things which you term necessary to your existence. This is regardless of whether or not they are objectively interesting in themselves or even to your own particular intellect.

I believe sincerely that only those men who reach the stage where it is possible for them to combat a second tragedy within themselves, and not the first over and over again, are worthy of being called mature. When you think someone is going ahead, make sure that he is not really standing still. In order to go ahead, you must leave things behind which most people are unwilling to do.

Your first pain, you carry it with you like a lodestone in your breast because all tenderness will come from there. You must carry it with you through your whole life but you must not circle around it. You must give up the search for those symbols which only serve to hide its face from you. You will have the illusion that they are disparate and manifold but they are always the same. if you are only interested in a bearable life, perhaps this letter does not concern you. For god’s sake, a ship leaving port is still a wonderful thing to see.”

Jane Bowles, American Writer (1917-1973)

 

Jane Bowles and her husband the writer Paul Bowles.

 

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Books and Happiness

BOOKS AND HAPPINESS

  “You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy books and that’s kind of the same thing.” Anonymous Girl Reading

THE SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR EFFECT

in My own creations by
Simone de Beauvoir

THE SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR EFFECT

“I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity.”

 

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, AN EXISTENTIALIST FEMINIST 

I was 15 when I discovered Simone de Beauvoir, who was already a well-known writer and avant-garde philosopher. An article about her life story in the daily newspaper triggered a tremendous curiosity in me. When I finished reading I literally went straight to my local library – along with the bookshop this was my favourite place to spend time – hoping I was able to find some of her books on the dusty shelves.

Before I continue, allow me to make a brief introduction. Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (1908-1986) was a French writer, intellectual, political activist, feminist, social theorist, existentialist and philosopher. Imagine the mid-twentieth century, a woman and intellectual making a living as a writer. And although she never thought of herself being a philosopher, her work made a significant impact on the further development of both feminist existentialism and feminist theory.

THE DISCOVERY OF HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The first book I read was “ Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter”.  I was intrigued, hooked to this story about a Bourgeois girl, pushed into isolation after a long but successful struggle freeing herself from a strict catholic upbringing. Simone wrote this first autobiography in 1958. It describes her rebellion against the narrow mindedness of the world around her.  She dedicated herself to intellectual labour and so managed to escape what was otherwise predestined. 

INTELLECTUALLY ATTRACTED TO SIMONE

Although I was raised in a liberal Jewish family so my situation was very different from hers, I took Simone as inspiration and dedicated myself to studying and literature. I decided I would become the new Simone, would go and live in Paris, become a philosopher and polyglot going from one cafe to another where I would meet interesting young writers, artists and poets. Talking all night about art, music, philosophy and most importantly literature.

Here I went to university to study literature which later on also allowed me to continue my research abroad. At some point, I ended up living in Paris for a while. But I, did not meet the interesting people Simone so vividly describes in her books. Then again as a poor student studies and work always had to take precedence over leisure. It was OK, the limited-time I had left I certainly enjoyed myself. 

ESCAPE INTO SIMONE’S WORLD

Nowadays on rare occasions, whenever I feel the need to escape daily reality Simone’s novels are still there for me. That is when I go back for a moment in time, being that 15-year-old girl again, even if just so briefly; full of innocence and big dreams, believing that I am free to do whatever I want, as a woman and as a valued member of society.

MY GRATITUDE 

I thank you, Simone de Beauvoir, for keeping me company all these years.

Monique Lucy Weberink

Las Palmas, 4th of May 2020

Simone de Beauvoir

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DORIS LESSING ~ THE WAY TO READ BOOKS

in The words that make sense... brilliant writings by writers... by
Doris-Lessing
Doris Lessing

 

ONE WAY TO READ A BOOK

In the opinion of the famous writer Doris Lessing there is only one way to read.

“There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag-and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is part of a trend or a movement. Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty-and vise versa. Don’t read a book out of its right time for you. ”
― Doris Lessing

www.moniqs.com

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Books and Happiness

BOOKS AND HAPPINESS

  “You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy books and that’s kind of the same thing.” Anonymous Girl Reading

FERNANDO PESSOA ~ AN AWARENESS OF FEELING

in The words that make sense... brilliant writings by writers... by
Dreams by Frederic William Burton and a quote by Fernando Pessoa

Some Wisdom by Fernando Pessoa

From The Book of Disquiet written by Fernando Pessoa. (1888-1935)

“What can I expect from myself? My sensation in all their horrible acuity, and a profound awareness of feeling. A sharp mind that only destroys me, and an unusual capacity for dreaming to keep me entertained. A dead will and a reflection that cradles it, like a living child.”

 Dreams

Frederic William Burton (1816-1900)
Dreams
Watercolor and body color over
-1861

 

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COLETTE AND HER LOVE FOR CATS.

in Just a bit of everything and everyone... by
Did Colette the french famous writer loved cats?

A WRITER LOVES HER CAT.

“I went to collect the few personal belongings which…I held to be invaluable: my cat, my resolve to travel, and my solitude.”  ― Colette

Why is it that so many writers of today and in the past, like Colette for example, love cats so much? Keep Reading

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LEONARD COHEN ~ A MEMOIR OF MELANCHOLY

in Poetical Visions by
Leonard Cohen, a great Poet and Songwriter. What is he thinking about?

Leonard Cohen (1934 – 2016)

“Like a bird on the wire,  Like a drunk in a midnight choir,  I have tried in my way to be free.”

We mourn the passing of a Leonard Norman Cohen: Canadian Singer, Songwriter, Poet and Novelist. Cohen died today on the 11th of November 2016, at the age of 82. For many years, Leonard Cohen has been revealing his soul to the world through his poetry and songwriting. Keep Reading

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What is an Illusion? Voltaire knows.

in The words that make sense... brilliant writings by writers... by

Voltaire once said:

“Illusion is the first of all Pleasures.”

What is she thinking about, it makes you wonder if her disillusion – as depicted in this painting – could actually be an illusion in itself. A trick of the mind that causes this emotion inside, a feeling of sadness and disappointment. I so wish it could be true…

The large painting above dates back to around 1640 and is titled “The Disillusioned Medea”  (also known as The Enchantress)

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HARUKI MURAKAMI ~ HUGE COSMIC LOVE

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“Sometimes, when one is moving silently through such an utterly desolate landscape, an overwhelming hallucination can make one feel that oneself, as an individual human being, is slowly being unraveled. The surrounding space is so vast that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep a balanced grip on one’s own being. The mind swells out to fill the entire landscape, becoming so diffuse in the process that one loses the ability to keep it fastened to the physical self. The sun would rise from the eastern horizon, and cut it’s way across the empty sky, and sink below the western horizon. This was the only perceptible change in our surroundings. And in the movement of the sun, I felt something I hardly know how to name: some huge, cosmic love.”
― Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Peyrelebade Landscape, 1869
Odilon Redon

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ELIE WIESEL ~ IN MEMORIAM

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“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

Elie Wiesel

Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel KBE was a Romanian-born American Jewish writer, professor, political activist, Holocaust survivor, and Nobel Laureate. Wikipedia 
Born: September 30, 1928, Sighetu Marmației, Romania
Died: July 2, 2016, Upper East Side, New York City, New York, United States

 

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RALPH WALDO EMERSON ~ ON BOOKS

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Some books leave us free and some books make us free – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Books and Happiness

BOOKS AND HAPPINESS

  “You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy books and that’s kind of the same thing.” Anonymous Girl Reading

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