#lent

She sang, as requested. There was much about love in the ballad: faithful love that refused to abandon its object; love that disaster could not shake; love that, in calamity, waxed fonder, in poverty clung closer. The words were set to a fine old air -- in themselves they were simple and sweet: perhaps, when read, they wanted force; when well sung, they wanted nothing. Shirley sang them well: she breathed into the feeling, softness, she poured round the passion, force: her voice was fine that evening; its expression dramatic: she impressed all, and charmed one. On leaving the instrument, she went to the fire, and sat down on a seat -- semi-stool, semi-cushion: the ladies were round her -- none of them spoke. The Misses Sympson and the Misses Nunnely looked upon her, as quiet poultry might look on an egret, an ibis, or any other strange fowl. What made her sing so? They never sang so. Was it proper to sing with such expression, with such originality -- so unlike a school girl? Decidedly not: it was strange, it was unusual. What was strange must be wrong; what was unusual must be improper. Shirley was judged. ↗

— Charlotte Brontë

#empathy #expectations #expression #faithfulness #feeling

The sign said don’t do it, so naturally I did it. Signs are always saying stuff in a silent way.
 Writing is a way to say something in a silent way. 
 ↗

— Jarod Kintz

#silent #writing #nature

O talento natural é como a força de um atleta. Pode-se nascer com mais ou menos faculdades, mas ninguém consegue ser um atleta simplesmente por ter nascido alto ou forte ou rápido. O que faz um atleta, ou um artista é o trabalho , o ofício e a técnica. A inteligência com que se nasce é simplesmente a munição. Para se chegar a fazer alguma coisa com ela é necessário transformarmos a nossa mente numa arma de precisão. ↗

— Carlos Ruiz Zafón

#nature

To use a man for what he is naturally best fitted is to keep him, if one can, from apostasy and dissatisfaction. At the same time, life's temptations come most often from that for which one has the greatest aptitude. ↗

— Fulton J. Sheen

#power #skill #talent #nature

Be aware of the high notes, of the blissful faces and their soft messages, and listen for the silent message of a highly decorated gift. ↗

— Dejan Stojanovic

#dejan-stojanovic #faces #gift #gifts #high-notes

…because talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing. ↗

— Louisa May Alcott

#little-women #louisa-may-alcott #talent #louisa-may-alcott

We don't choose our talents; but we needn't hide them in a napkin because they are not just what we want. ↗

— Louisa May Alcott

#louisa-may-alcott #talents #louisa-may-alcott

America has got the equivalent of stage three cancer of socialism because the federal government is tampering in all kinds of stuff it has no business tampering in. ↗

— Todd Akin

#because #business #cancer #equivalent #federal

I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early poetry, and bad poets publish it. Thankfully I gave up rather quickly. ↗

— Umberto Eco

#poetry #talent #youth #age

I won't compete with anybody. I love to compete with my own body. When God closes a door against me, I should not attempt to bang on it. And if God gives me a key to open a door, I should not misuse that key! ↗

— Israelmore Ayivor

#aim-high #big-dream #close #compete #competition