It reminded him of this Tolstoy quote:
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
Ouch. Tolstoy also said:
"True life is lived when tiny changes occur."
Wow. Eight tiny, but powerful, words.
Interestingly, one of the things that came out in our conversation last night is that I have a habit of over-explaining things.
I know that I do this. I HATE that I do this.
It's one of the things that frustrates me in other people...but I'm guilty of doing it myself!! I won't out Jonah on any of the things that came out about him, but since this is my blog, I'm happy to use it for my own personal confessional. (See! I just did it then a little bit! Oi! What am I like?!)
I think that this over-explaining habit has something to do with the fact that I like quotes.
Partly, it's nice to find a blurb where someone famous says something that supports your thinking, because somehow that seems to make it more valid - which is an entirely separate discussion which might be fun to have.
But really...the reason they appeal to me is that when you find a quote that sums up an idea or argument really well, it's fantastic...because the best things come in small packages, right?
The most difficult thing for me is finding the delicate balance in giving enough background for people to get the big picture with sufficient detail, so that when you throw out a punchy one-liner...it has real impact.
5 comments:
We're getting close. We were talking about SNL yesterday and a co-worker had never heard of The Church Lady or Cajun Man. Since I'm getting older, I cannot chalk this up as a mysterious conspiracy caused by, umm, let me see who's the greatest conspirator, umm could that be... maybe... umm, SATAN!!!
The above comment should have ended up on the birthday shout out thread... All I've gotta say about this comment is, "Sometimes DKHT just needs the quotes obfuscate the point you're trying to make. I think much of what you write can stand alone..."
As a recovering overexplainer, I understand exactly where you are coming from.
as a no-recovery-in-sight overexplainer, I hear you too. I could explain, but I have my own blog in which to do that...
dovie, found you through Murray's blog - looks like you have found your fabulous haircut!
i am queen of overexplaining. i often get cut off at the knees as i'm vomiting details on my poor husband. details he could care less to hear. you're not alone. take comfort, fellow overexplainer.
p.s. - this is totally unsolicited news from me, but i have a child now...who would have thought???
- schisler
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