WORDS FOR EVERY DAY

In 1962, the writer John Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature which in my opinion was richly deserved.

His speech of acceptance contained the following:

 (Each of us) is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit  - for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and  despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation.

I first read these words not long after his speech and they have burned within me over all the following decades as I believe totally in them. They have given me encouragement in the bad times and been one of the sources of what makes me “ME” – part of my philosophy overall.  One of the reasons for my writing is that these words and this philosophy have never been in greater demand and it has been my wish to, in some small part, expose people to a richer life – not in a monetary sense but in the sense of creating a thinking point outside the normal thought patterns; perhaps I have had some slight success.

Each one of us has a responsibility to fight the good fight against all the evils that surround us. However, when you are up to your ears in crocodiles it’s often hard to remember that your original aim was to drain the swamp. Thus, this blog – to remind that we can and indeed must make a difference to as many as possible.

I will end with another quote from the same speech:

 "Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope. So that today, St. John the Apostle may well be paraphrased: In the end is the Word, and the Word is Man - and the Word is with Men."

Until next time (and with great thanks to John Steinbeck, trying to do my bit),

Peripatetic Scribe