#setting

In the detective story, as in its mirror image, the Quest for the Grail, maps (the ritual of space) and timetables (the ritual of time) are desirable. Nature should reflect its human inhabitants, i.e., it should be the Great Good Place; for the more Eden-like it is, the greater the contradiction of murder. The country is preferable to the town, a well-to-do neighborhood (but not too well-to-do-or there will be a suspicion of ill-gotten gains) better than a slum. The corpse must shock not only because it is a corpse but also because, even for a corpse, it is shockingly out of place, as when a dog makes a mess on a drawing room carpet." (The guilty vicarage: Notes on the detective story, by an addict, Harper's Magazine, May 1948) ↗

— W.H. Auden

#detective-stories #mysteries #setting #writing #nature

When you wake up, think about winning the day. Don't worry about a week or a month from now -- just think about one day at a time. If you are worried about the mountain in the distance, you might trip over the molehill right in front of you. Win the day! ↗

— Drew Brees

#adversity

The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication. ↗

— Cecil B. DeMille

#success #goal-setting

I carry a torch in one hand And a bucket of water in the other: With these things I am going to set fire to Heaven And put out the flames of Hell So that voyagers to God can rip the veils And see the real goal. ↗

— Rābiʻah al-ʻAdawīyah

#lennon #goal-setting

Why are murder mysteries so popular? There's a 3-part "formula" (if you want to call it that) for a genre novel: (1) Someone the reader likes and relates to (2) overcomes increasingly difficult obstacles (3) to reach an important goal. The more important the goal, the stronger the novel. And the most important goal that any of us have is survival. That's why murder mysteries are more gripping than a story titled "Who Stole My TV Set. ↗

— Lois Duncan

#goal-setting

We should set our goals; then learn to control our appetites. Otherwise, we will lose ourselves in the confusion of the world. ↗

— Hark Herald Sarmiento

#confusion #goals #self-control #world #goal-setting

The basis of drama is ... is the struggle of the hero towards a specific goal at the end of which he realizes that what kept him from it was, in the lesser drama, civilization and, in the great drama, the discovery of something that he did not set out to discover but which can be seen retrospectively as inevitable. The example Aristotle uses, of course, is Oedipus. ↗

— David Mamet

#goal-setting

Be aware that how you feel has a direct impact on your thinking process. When we set standards for ourselves they seem objective, but standards and goal-setting are totally subjective and personal." From The Biology of Success. ↗

— Robert Arnot

#decisions #success #goal-setting

Set goals so big that unless God helps you, you will be a miserable failure. ↗

— Bill Bright

#heaven #heavenly-father #jesus #goal-setting

It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men. ↗

— Samuel Adams

#freedom #irate #keen #majority #men