Little Thinkers Quotes (11 of 16): Edgar Allan Poe

We saw a wax museum figure of Edgar Allan Poe in an old Vincent Price film the other night; here is his quote, which reminds me of a dream I had last night in which I was an assistant film director for Sofia Coppola, of all people, on a movie set:

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."

http://www.poemuseum.org (Poe Museum in Richmond, Va)

http://www.poeinbaltimore.org

Quote of the Day- Nazim Hikmet

Today's quote of the day comes from the late Nazim Hikmet, who is Turkey's most famous poet. Though he lived in exile for much of his adult life in the Soviet Union for his communist views, Hikmet is highly regarded in Turkey. His quotes have also inspired many people in Turkey during this trying period brought on my unjust militant crackdowns by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan against peaceful protestors at Gezi Park in Istanbul. Hikmet is buried in Moscow, Russia, and his cemetery is a top destination point for Turkish people and poetry enthusiasts.


Here is his quote:

"However and wherever we are, we must live as if we never die."

SIDEBAR: A few months ago, I saw this tweet from John Robinson, the former editor of "The News and Record" in Greensboro, NC, who now teaches at the University of North Carolina. It was regarding 'cannibalism' in Jamestown. At first, I thought he was referring to Jamestown, NC, a suburb of Greensboro, but I realized he meant the Jamestown colony in eastern Virginia.

http://www.nazimhikmet.org

http://www.johnrobinson.com

For Republic's Day, a Quote from Nazim Hikmet

Since today is Republic's Day in Turkey, which honors the founding of the Republic of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on Oct. 29th, 1923, we thought we's quote Turkey's most famous poet Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963).

Here in America, the Nazim Hikmet Poetry Festival in held in Cary (Raleigh), North Carolina every year, usually in April.

Here is the quote from Hikmet:

"And, don't forget a prisoner's wife must always think good thoughts."

http://www.nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org

Quote of the Day/Week-Dorothy Parker

Today's quote of the day is from Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), who was born in Long Branch, NJ. We had wrongfully assumed that there was a characterization of her in the Woody Allen film "Midnight in Paris," but as it turns out, that is not the case!

But, she was portrayed by actress Jennifer Jason Leigh (pictured here) in the Alan Rudolph film "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle."

Parker was the subject of the notorious Hollywood blacklist, that took place in the late 1940s and the early 1950s. In addition to being an author, critic and a poet, Parker was a screenwriter who wrote the original version of "A Star is Born" (1937).

Here is her quote:

"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force."

http://www.dorothyparker.com

Quote of the Day- Charles Bukowski

Today, we begin a week-long series of quotes from famous American writers, including poets and playwrights. We start with the eccentric novelist and poet Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) who made no secret of his alcohol consumption.He was portrayed by Mickey Rourke in the film "Barfly."

His work also had dark, subversive themes, and that's one of the reasons why we love him so much. Bukowski is also one of Greensboro, NC, singer/songwriter/poet Bruce Piephoff.

Here is Bukowski's quote:

"The young poet starting out...should stay the hell out of writing classes and find out what's happening around the corner."

Casualties of Modern Technology (11 of 12)_ Slide Projectors

Back in the 1970s, while other families

were watching "The Love Boat," my late father Mehmet Gokbudak would get out the slide projector and we would watch slide shows featuring images of backyard family trips (we lived in Roanoke, Va) of Highland County and from the two European trips we took. One famous slide was of me posing besides a street sign for Attila Josef Street in Budapest, Hungary, in a Dallas Cowboys hat and jacket. Since Attila is my name, this seemed very cool to my dad. And, I had no idea who Attila Josef was until today (a legendary Hungarian poet who died at age 32 in 1937).

Another famous slide was one of a crocidile at a restaurant in Warsaw, Poland- of all places. The croc was a gift from Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. We have no idea what the croc's name is, but we learned from Google that the croc came to the establishment in 1972. He may well still be the only crocidile in Poland.

As for the slide projector, it was very popular and hip from the 1950s to the 1970s, as it allowed slide prints to be displayed on a screen. But, today, many manufaturers have quit making both the prints and the machines.

http://www.highlandcountyva.org/

Quote of the Day/Week- Yukio Mishima

Today, we conclude our quotes in honor of National Poetry Month, with a quip from the Japanese poet Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) who died at age 45 after committing ritual suicide in a political protest.

Mishima was unique in that he was a right-wing nationalist who was also a homosexual; he was also a playwright, novelist and actor. Mishima was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in literature.

Here is his quote:

"Is there not a sort of remorse that precedes sin? Was it remorse at the very fact that I existed?" (taken from his 1949 work "Confessions of a Mask."

SIDEBAR: The answer to our April 17th edition of "The Rabbit Ears Quiz" is A) Missouri.

Quotes of the Day/Week-Gwendolyn Brooks

Today, we continue quoting famous poets from around the world with a quip from the great African-American poet Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) whose poem "We Real Cool" (1963) is one of my personal favorites.

Brooks was born in Topeka, Kan. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1950.

The poet was known for ballads, sonnets and free verse poets.

Here is her quote:

"Art hurts. Art urges voyages_ and it is easier to stay at home."

As a lark, we are telling Blogger that we are blogging from the Wild Zone Saloon in Nashville, Tenn., we are not even in that time zone!http://www.poemhunter.org
www.wildhorsesaloon.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Leonard Cohen

Today, we are thinking 'outside the box' for our quote in honor of National Poetry Month. We are taking a broader definition of the word poet. Though Canadian singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen, 77, is best known for penning and singing brilliant songs like "Hallejuah" (1984), which was immortalized by the late Jeff Buckley in 1994, he has also written extensive poetry.

His most recent record "Old Ideas" has become a smash-selling work in many country, including here in America where it reached #3 on the Billboard chart, it actually went to number one in Finland.

Cohen has inspired the likes of U2 and Lou Reed, and his songs first appeared in films in the early 1970s when several were included in Robert Altman's western "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (1971).

Here is Cohen's quote:

"I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin."

Quote of the Day/Week-Maya Angelou

First of all, thanks to our blog-readers in Bulgaria and Honduras. I've been to one of those countries-Bulgaria, though it was when I was a child 35 years ago. And, I've been close to Honduras with visits to Belize and Guatemala.

Today, we are quoting the great poet Maya Angelou who turned 84 yesterday. This is also National Poetry Month in America.

Angelou spent several years in Ghana during the 1960s. The poet, who is also known for being a Civil Rights activist, has in recent years been a professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, and she recited her poem "On the Rushes of Morning" during Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993.

Here is her quote:

"Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean."

Quote of the Day.Week- Gil Scott-Heron

We are featuring jazz singer and poet Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011) today as we continue to quote famous people who died in 2011. Scott-Heron died on May 27 at age 62.

The Chicago-native was best-known for his song/poem "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (1970) which features many pop culture references, including ones to Richard Nixon, Johnny Cash, Steve McQueen, Natalie Wood and even the famed American cartoon character Bullwinkle, which was popular in the 1960s.

Here is his quote:

"All the dreams you show up in are not your own."

Quote of the Day- James Baldwin

During this month of August, we will be quoting from famous literary and creative radicals on Mondays, or whenever we can.

Today, we start with the late great poet/novelist/playwright James Baldwin who was also a civil rights activist for blacks and gays.

The liberal journal "The Nation" recently published quotes from famous people who have contributed articles and columns to the magazine over its long history. And, it was from a July 11th, 1966 issue of "The Nation" in which Baldwin made this provocative comment:

"The law is meant to be my servant and not my master, still less my torturer and my murderer."

SIDEBAR: We want to wish our Muslim friends a happy Ramadan season, an occasion which is alas soiled because of the political unrest in Syria which once again escalated on Monday. Many groups, such as the Divan Cultural Center, in Cary (Raleigh), NC, are holding special iftar dinners for the holiday.

If you are a Muslim living in the Washington, DC, area, (or just enjoy mutton) and you happen to have lots of capital wealth and enjoy very fine dinning, then we can recommend the Poste Brassiere at the Hotel Monaco on Eight Street, NW. According to "The Washingtonian" magazine, the restaurant offers roast lamb for $70. The restaurant also apparently requires a one-week in advance reservation.

Quote of the Day- E.E. Cummings

Today, we start our series with quotes from famous Americans in honor of the Fourth of July. This month, we will focus on eight quotes from people associated with the six New England states.

Since the late poet e.e. cummings (he actually preferred having his name in lower-cased letters) was born in Cambridge, Mass., and he died at his estate in North Conway, New Hampshire, we are going to quote him.

Cummings (1894-1962) was considered to be an avant garde poet when he wrote his most famous poems, such as "Buffalo Bill's," which helped immortalize the Wild West legend from Cody, Wyoming, in the 1920s. But, today, his work is considered to be standard fare in English literature classes.

Here is his quote which makes one think of another New Englander, the late children's author Dr. Seuss:

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

Quote of the Day- Rita Dove

Originally, we were going to quip the late playwright/poet August Wilson ("Fences") with Maya Angelou (see our sister entry in the blog "The Daily Vampire"), but we are going with a living poet Rita Dove who lives in Charlottesville, Va.

Since Virginia is my home state, and I still spend quit a bit of time there, I thought Dove would be a good choice, and her poetry_ especially regarding Civil Rights issues_ is quite exemplarary. Nikki Giovanni, another highly regarded African-American female poet, resides just down the proverbial road from Dove in Blacksburg, Va.

Here is the quote from Dove:

"Being true to yourself means being true to all the complexities of the human spirit."

Quote of the Week- e.e. cummings

While researching this piece, we were surprised that e.e. cummings (also known as E.E. Cummings, though he never capitalized the letters of his name for his poems)
(1894-1962) went from being a bohemian liberal to a Republican.

But, we like his poetry anyway, especially "Buffalo Bill's" and "Little Tree." So, we decided to quote him today in honor of National Poetry Month:

"I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand others how to dance."

SIDEBAR: Is anyone else besides me iritated with the Barracuda Networks, an entity that many public instutions, such as libraries, use to 'filter' inappropriate sites, here in the United States and perhaps other parts of the world?

We certainly understand why such institutions would not want patrons looking up pornographic sites as web site dedicated to serial killers and Adolf Hitler as well ones which tell you the best ways to commit suicide.

But, it is ironic that Barracuda will actually block most social networking sites, like Twitter, Facebook and E-Harmony (and, hey we wonder why fewer people are in relationships than ever!), but they will allow access to terrorist organizations, such as the web site for the PKK. This is a Kurdish separatist group, formed in 1978 by Abdullah Ocalan, which has killed thousands of innocent people in Turkey. We presume that even in post-9/11 America that the PKK is apparently not a concern for this network that some may view as a censoring body which happens to share its name with a Portland, Ore., nightclub as well as a famous song by Heart.

How's that for irony?!

Quotes of the Week- Langston Hughes

We are always looking for new people to quote from all the time. But, ultimately, there are always some people we come back to time and time again which means risking the possibility that we have posted the same quote at some juncture before (this particular blog has been around for almost four years now).

One of those people is the great poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967). Today, we found out that he was born just two weeks after another one of my favorite poets Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) of Turkey who lived much of his later life in exile for political reasons. Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, and he died in New York. February 1st is his birthday.

We learned this week that he originally went to Columbia University to study engineering, but outraged his family by pursuing writing poetry instead.

Hughes was a political figure himself as he often wrote about the many injustices that African-Americans dealt with during his lifetime. His work also inspired other literary figures, and he deservedly had his image on a postage stamp several years ago.

Here is our quote from this poetic genius:

"Hold fast to your dreams, for without them life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."

Special Quote of the Week- W.B. Yeats

Today since St. Patrick's Day was last week we thought we'd once again quote someone famous from Ireland. And, we've decided to quip the poet W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) whose quotes actually appear in the highly acclaimed Chinese film "24 City" (2008).

Yeats is known for poems like "The Second Coming" (1920) and assuredly a teacher at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Va., is perhaps assigning a paper on his works as we speak (oh, I forgot school is out for today!).

Here is his quote:

"Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy."

While we are speaking about all things Irish, we should mention that the 'not Irish' band Coyote Run (they are actually classified as Celtic) from Williamsburg, Va., that I saw perform live recently will be giving a concert in their home state at RavenCon in Richmond on Sat., April 9.

Quote of the Week- James Baldwin

We are actually quoting playwrights today, but even though the late James Baldwin
(1924-1987) is best known as a poet, he wrote a number of acclaimed plays including "The Amen Corner" (1954).

Ironically, he went to DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx where Neil Simon, last week's subject for our Quote of the Week, also went to school. Baldwin graduate in 1942 while Simon graduated from DeWitt in 1944. Playwright Frank Gilroy ("The Subject Was Roses") also went to the high school which is where many, many famous people (Stan Lee, Will Eisner) graduated from.

Here is the quote from Baldwin:

"A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford to be fooled."

Things We Learned From the BBC Today- Saudi Arabia to Allow Blackberrys

Yes, we are actually referring to those electronic telecommunication devices which were made famous in part by then-candidate Barack Obama during his run for the presidency. But, we couldn't resist an image of blackberries that you might find in rural West Virginia or wherever these things are grown!

But, after much dispute the Saudi Arabian government apparently will allow Black Berry service to continue in the kingdom according to the BBC.

Riyadh was apparently unhappy that Black Berry handsets automatically scrambled messages and sent them to Canada in a measure that was aimed at trying to find perspective terrorist suspects.

We are dedicating tonight's entry to students at Eastside High School in Paterson, NJ, as the Ghosts (yes, that is their actual nickname, but we think Harvey Comics would sue if they used Casper as their mascot) are our bonus High School of the Week (to make up for the fact that we forgot to name one last week).

Paterson, NJ, is believed to have the highest concentration of Turkish-Americans per capita in the country though I myself live far away in the coal-mining town of Hazard, Kentucky (that is a joke, but even though I live nowhere near there it's not much of a stretch!).

The high school was actually made famous as it was depicted in the Morgan Freeman movie "Lean on Me," which was based on a true story that happened there.

The current principal is Karen Johnson.

Eastside High is 70 percent Hispanic, and the school goes from grades nine through twelve.

The legendary beat poet Allen Gingsberg, one of my personal favorite figures of the '60s, is arguably the school's most famous alum.

Quote of the Week- Nikki Giovanni

Today's Quote of the Week is once again one which we are devouting to Black History Month. It comes from poet Nikki Giovanni, also an English professor at Virginia Tech. We chose her as our "Person of the Year" in 2007. One of my foundest memories of being a newspaper reporter was having the chance to interview Giovanni when I worked for "The News-Messenger" in Christiansburg, Va.

Here is her quote:

"If you don't understand yourself you don't understand anyone else."