Curiosity, which may or may not eventuate in something useful, is probably the outstanding characteristic of modern thinking. It is not new. It goes back to Galileo, Bacon, and to Sir Isaac Newton, and it must be absolutely unhampered. Institutions of learning should be devoted to the cultivation of curiosity and the less they are deflected by considerations of immediacy of application, the more likely they are to contribute not only to human welfare but to the equally important satisfaction of intellectual interest which may indeed be said to have become the ruling passion of intellectual life in modern times.
“may i feel said he” by e. e. cummings read by Tom Hiddleston
may i feel said he
(i’ll squeal said she
just once said he)
it’s fun said she(may i touch said he
how much said she
a lot said he)
why not said she(let’s go said he
not too far said she
what’s too far said he
where you are said she)may i stay said he
(which way said she
like this said he
if you kiss said shemay i move said he
it is love said she)
if you’re willing said he
(but you’re killing said shebut it’s life said he
but your wife said she
now said he)
ow said she(tiptop said he
don’t stop said she
oh nn said he)
go slow said she(cccome?said he
ummm said she
you’re divine!said he
(you are Mine said she)
(Source: hxcfairyhasmoved)
I can get my head turned by a good-looking guy as much as the next girl. But sexy doesn’t impress me. Smart impresses me, strength of character impresses me. But most of all, I am impressed by kindness. Kindness, I think, comes from learning hard lessons well, from falling and picking yourself up. It comes from surviving failure and loss. It implies an understanding of the human condition, forgives its many flaws and quirks. When I see that in someone, it fills me with admiration.
Language, a great poem in and of itself, is all around us. We live in the lap of enormous wonder, but how rarely do most of us look up and smile in gratitude and pleasure? The English major does that all the time.
[…]
Love for language, hunger for life, openness and a quest for truth: Those are the qualities of my English major in the ideal form. But of course now we’re talking about more than a mere academic major. We’re talking about a way of life. We’re talking about a way of living that places inquiry into how to live in the world—what to be, how to act, how to move through time—at its center. What we’re talking about is a path to becoming a human being, or at least a better sort of human being than one was at the start. An English major? To me an English major is someone who has decided, against all kinds of pious, prudent advice and all kinds of fears and resistances, to major, quite simply, in becoming a person.