But when someone hands you a piece of magic like John Keating, played by Robin Williams, does in Dead Poets Society, you don’t want to let it go. We don’t live in Cinderella or Harry Potter land. Let’s face it, it is tough to find magic in this world. A teacher that commands and inspires, kindles that fire in your loins to live, and see life in everything. If you haven’t seen Dead Poets Society, (And if you haven’t, SPOILER ALERT!!!) it is about that kind of teacher. Thanks Miss Keating, wherever you are! (Hopefully hoisting a pint in some fun location in Ireland.) And suddenly I felt confident that I could write. She listened and made me feel I could contribute something of value. She was from Ireland and for the first time told me what wrote was good. The first time I was ever moved or inspired by a teacher was in high school, and at my high school those moments were very few and far between. From second grade, to high school, to college, I’ve irritated, been snapped at by, and been tossed out of of classrooms by teachers. And there was something inside me, on my face, in my eyes, that instinctively brought out complete irritation in teachers, which could be part of why I hated school. I SOUND MY BARBARIC YAWP OVER THE ROOFTOPS OF THE WORLD.Who knew guys who liked poetry could be jocks too? Now we all have a great need for acceptance, but you must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, even though others may think them odd or unpopular, even though the herd may go “that’s baaaaad.” Robert Frost said, “Two roads diverged in the wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Thoreau said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Don’t be resigned to that. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. I was the intellectual equivalent of a 98-pound weakling! I would go to the beach and people would kick copies of Byron in my face!īoys, you must strive to find your own voice. This is a battle, a war, and the casualties could be your hearts and souls. Anderson! Don’t think that I don’t know that this assignment scares the hell out of you, you mole! I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself. How can you describe poetry like American Bandstand? “I like Byron, I give him a 42 but I can’t dance to it!” On Dreaming “Twas always thus, and always thus will be.” On Teaching That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. That you are here – that life exists, and identity that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. To quote from Whitman, “O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. And the human race is filled with passion. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. There’s a time for daring and there’s a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for. Sucking the marrow out of life doesn’t mean choking on the bone. Listen, you hear it? – – Carpe – – hear it? – – Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Now, don’t just walk off the edge like lemmings! Look around you! On Living I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way. Allow me to add to the deluge of Robin Williams tributes flooding the internet.
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