I've been looking for this quote for a long time. I find and lose it regularly over the years. Always, my intention is to file it where I can easily find it again, but somehow, it is never right at hand. Now it is recorded here, and maybe I'll remember where this copy is.
[The] most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or a piece of prose he or she really loves … is to learn it by heart. Not by brain, by heart; the expression is vital.
George Steiner
What a good idea. I have a few quotes that I lose and find over and over again, too. Maybe I'll borrow your idea and do this when I find them again. I like that quote. Thanks for sharing it in the process of filing it away for safe keeping.
ReplyDeleteAm passing this on to my so called editor M... she loves poetry and often recites poems that are pages long. It takes her hours to memorize but she doesnt care. For her its a treasure she gets to carry everywhere.
ReplyDeletecheya - I have typed lists of various poems and quotes I've saved, but lost the original documents on many when my computer crashed. The computer gives such quick access, but is vulnerable; hard copies play hide and seek. If I were more organized...
ReplyDeleteNessie - I love having that "treasure" (what a great way to express it). Sometimes I use them to time things. This poem takes about 1 minute, this one about 3 minutes. Waiting in line, I might go through them in my head.
I'd say that for your editor, it is a labor of love!
Okay...so shouldn't you be learning this quote by heart now? ;)
ReplyDeleteIts great. I love Tennyson's Lady of Shalott and had a goal to memorize it one year and only did about half of it. I should make that one of my uberlist items for next year.
Ha, Ha, Ha! I never thought of that! In fact, when I think about it, I usually substitute "head" for "brain" and am surprised each time. You are right, though, how silly not to learn the quote. I'm on it (but since it doesn't rhyme, will it stick?)-
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