Quote of the Week: Aristotle

“I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.”
~ Aristotle

Quote of the Week: Anais Nin

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
~ Anaïs Nin

Quote of the Week: R. L. Stine

“People say, ‘What advice do you have for people who want to be writers?’ I say, they don’t really need advice, they know they want to be writers, and they’re gonna do it. Those people who know that they really want to do this and are cut out for it, they know it.”
—R.L. Stine

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Quote of the Week: William Wordsworth

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
~ William Wordsworth

Quote of the Week: Annie Dillard

“Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.”
—Annie Dillard

Quote of the Week: Richard Bach

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” ~ Richard Bach

Word of the Day Wednesday: atavism

at·a·vism noun \ˈa-tə-ˌvi-zəm\

Definition of ATAVISM

1

a :  recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination

b :  recurrence of or reversion to a past style, manner, outlook, approach, or activity <architectural atavism>

2

:  one that manifests atavism :  throwback

— at·a·vis·tic adjective

— at·a·vis·ti·cal·ly adverb

Origin of ATAVISM

French atavisme, from Latin atavus ancestor, from at- (probably akin to atta daddy) + avus grandfather

First Known Use: 1833

Definition source: http://www.merriam-webster.com

The Word of the Day started with this post.

 

Quote of the Week: Jarod Kintz

“Writers fish for the right words like fishermen fish for, um, whatever those aquatic creatures with fins and gills are called.” ~ Jarod Kintz

Word of the Day Wednesday: pugnacious

pug·na·cious adjective \ˌpəg-ˈnā-shəs\: showing a readiness or desire to fight or argue

Full Definition of PUGNACIOUS

:  having a quarrelsome or combative nature :  truculent

— pug·na·cious·ly adverb

— pug·na·cious·ness noun

— pug·nac·i·ty noun

Origin of PUGNACIOUS

Latin pugnac-, pugnax, from pugnare to fight

First Known Use: 1642

Related to PUGNACIOUS

Synonyms

aggressive, agonistic, argumentative, assaultive, bellicose, brawly, chippy, combative, confrontational, contentious, discordant, disputatious, feisty, gladiatorial, militant, belligerent, quarrelsome, scrappy, truculent, warlike

Antonyms

nonaggressive, nonbelligerent, pacific, peaceable, peaceful, unbelligerent, uncombative, uncontentious

Definition source: http://www.merriam-webster.com

The Word of the Day started with this post.

 

All the World’s a Stage by William Shakespeare

All the World’s a Stage

by William Shakespeare

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.