Presidents' Day Wisdom...
Happy Presidents' Day!
I'm going to temporarily go along with the mainstream trend of conveniently forgetting that Presidents' Day is supposed to celebrate Washington and Lincoln, and share with you some writing advice from a different great man: our second president, John Adams.
“...I am resolved not to neglect my time as I did last year. I am resolved to rise with the sun, and to study the Scriptures on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, and to study some Latin author the other three mornings. Noons and nights I intend to read English authors. This is my fixed determination... May I blush whenever I suffer one hour to pass unimproved. I will rouse up my mind and fix my attention; I will stand collected within myself, and think upon what I read and what I see; I will strive, with all my soul, to be something more than persons who have had less advantages than myself.” (From his journal, July 21, 1756)
(I must insert: the above passage is worth reading for the masterful use of semicolons alone...)
“But I must stay more at home, and commit more to writing. A pen is certainly an excellent instrument to fix a man's attention and to inflame his ambition. I am, therefore, beginning a new literary year in the twenty-sixth of my life.” (From his journal, Friday November 14, 1760)
I found these quotes in Carolyn Yoder's John Adams, the Writer; A Treasury of Letters, Diaries, and Public Documents. And I must say that the word “treasury” is accurate, for the treasures I have found there are boundless. (Hmm...I seem to have picked up a more advanced vocabulary than I generally use. Blame John Adams!)
I'm going to temporarily go along with the mainstream trend of conveniently forgetting that Presidents' Day is supposed to celebrate Washington and Lincoln, and share with you some writing advice from a different great man: our second president, John Adams.
“...I am resolved not to neglect my time as I did last year. I am resolved to rise with the sun, and to study the Scriptures on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, and to study some Latin author the other three mornings. Noons and nights I intend to read English authors. This is my fixed determination... May I blush whenever I suffer one hour to pass unimproved. I will rouse up my mind and fix my attention; I will stand collected within myself, and think upon what I read and what I see; I will strive, with all my soul, to be something more than persons who have had less advantages than myself.” (From his journal, July 21, 1756)
(I must insert: the above passage is worth reading for the masterful use of semicolons alone...)
“But I must stay more at home, and commit more to writing. A pen is certainly an excellent instrument to fix a man's attention and to inflame his ambition. I am, therefore, beginning a new literary year in the twenty-sixth of my life.” (From his journal, Friday November 14, 1760)
I found these quotes in Carolyn Yoder's John Adams, the Writer; A Treasury of Letters, Diaries, and Public Documents. And I must say that the word “treasury” is accurate, for the treasures I have found there are boundless. (Hmm...I seem to have picked up a more advanced vocabulary than I generally use. Blame John Adams!)
What an amazing quote. These founding fathers of ours were super men. This is a good time to take a moment and honor what they did for our country and what they represented morally, spiritually and patriotically.
ReplyDeleteInteresting you posted this. The other day I was looking up craft projects for my boys to do all this week that relate to President's Day. One website I visited didn't even have Washington listed. They had Lincoln, Obama, and Adams. I don't know. It just rubbed me the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteGreat quotes, by the way. :)
Thanks for sharing this wonderful quote! My knowledge of American history is very poor, but every time I read a good book on our founding fathers, I am amazed at their prinicples. Surely God was guiding their hand while they drafted the constitution.
ReplyDeleteLove these quotes. Wasn't John's wife also quite an amazing person?
ReplyDeleteAmy
I didn't know about Carolyn's book--thanks for posting this.
ReplyDelete