Lovely stuff, man. I need things like this to come back to right now.
My wife, Emma, has E.B. White's/Charlotte's words tattooed across her inner forearms: "This lovely world / these precious days." That one gets me.
Where the Wild Things Are was my favorite book as a kid, and my kids' favorite, too. My daughter was/is such a deeply sensitive soul, and given all the hard days that come with that, curling up and reading Winnie the Pooh with her was always the loveliest.
“'I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,' said Pooh. 'There, there,' said Piglet. 'I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.'
I just posted this on another comment, but I’ve written at least three essays about WTWTA. It is the first book I remember reading, and the first book I bought my daughters, and, more recently, my grandson.
I love literary tattoos. Your wife is cool.
Jenn wanted me to tell you she loves the Piglet quote <3
Paul, I won’t go into it, but Where the Wild Things Are is a book that means a great deal to me. I was doing pretty well reading these until that quote, then the tears came. What beautiful wisdom you’ve curated for us. Thank you. 💙
I’ve written at least three essays about WTWTA, and maybe more. I have an unsold memoir titled Where the Wild Things Were. WTWTA was the first gift I ever bought my grandson.
Right there with you, friend. Appreciate the comment, and the kind words. I was really hoping this post would spread some good feelings <3
Here’s one for you Paul that I kept in my notes from May of 2025.
“So maybe you’ll believe me when I tell you that time is a construct. That our lives overlap in ways we will never understand, with our small, infinitesimal selves. That our collective pasts are always with us, as are all the people we’ve ever touched, all the way back to the beginning.” Paul Crenshaw
That is actually my favorite line in WTWTA, but I feel like we have enough of roaring and gnashing right now. Appreciate the comment, and the kind words <3
I have always had a habit of holding onto quotes—in the deep recesses of my brain, a journal, word document, notes apps. From a very young age, the Quotable Quotes portion of my parents Reader’s Digest was my absolute favorite (as well as the featured photography often on the back cover). I would save the quote and tear off the back cover and place it in the same quote journal. Words and pictures have always been so important to me. Grateful for you, Paul.
Oh wow, I had forgotten about Quotable Quotes. I remember once, right when I first started writing, submitting a story to “Humor in Uniform.” Do you remember that? They were humorous little stories about military life.
I do remember Humor in Uniform and Life in these United States which was a similar funny story submission. That’s so great that you submitted something! My mom always wanted us to send in one of the crazy things that happened over the years but we never did. I am sure there’s a word limit and we’re Irish 🤣🤷🏻♀️.
We don’t say “…to make a long story short”…we always said “..to make a long short longer”
I saw Dylan last year. Bucket list for me. I should have included some of his lyrics too, but I quoted Blowing in the Wind a few essays ago. Hope you’re well, friend.
Great stuff as usual! Aside from "Where the Wild Things Are," they were new to me. My daughter especially loved Shel Silverstein; I should know more about him.
My contributions:
--Mother Teresa: "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
--Mother Teresa again: "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."
--Tom Petty: "I'm so tired of being tired. Sure as night will follow day, most things I worry about never happen anyway."
--Tom Petty again: "Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks." I cannot count how many times I have assured my kids of this. And myself, for that matter.
A book like this has a name. It's called a Common Book. I've kept one for years. Here is one of my faves.
"We accept the love we think we deserve."
~Stephen Chobsky, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"
That’s a good quote, friend. I’m going to call mine an Uncommon Book, though <3
Yes!! Rule breaker!
Lovely stuff, man. I need things like this to come back to right now.
My wife, Emma, has E.B. White's/Charlotte's words tattooed across her inner forearms: "This lovely world / these precious days." That one gets me.
Where the Wild Things Are was my favorite book as a kid, and my kids' favorite, too. My daughter was/is such a deeply sensitive soul, and given all the hard days that come with that, curling up and reading Winnie the Pooh with her was always the loveliest.
“'I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,' said Pooh. 'There, there,' said Piglet. 'I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.'
—A.A. Milne
I just posted this on another comment, but I’ve written at least three essays about WTWTA. It is the first book I remember reading, and the first book I bought my daughters, and, more recently, my grandson.
I love literary tattoos. Your wife is cool.
Jenn wanted me to tell you she loves the Piglet quote <3
Paul, I won’t go into it, but Where the Wild Things Are is a book that means a great deal to me. I was doing pretty well reading these until that quote, then the tears came. What beautiful wisdom you’ve curated for us. Thank you. 💙
I’ve written at least three essays about WTWTA, and maybe more. I have an unsold memoir titled Where the Wild Things Were. WTWTA was the first gift I ever bought my grandson.
Right there with you, friend. Appreciate the comment, and the kind words. I was really hoping this post would spread some good feelings <3
Thank you! Finding this in my inbox was like hearing the bell that calls us back to attention, to the now.
Thank you friend, and I like the way you said that.
Inspiration comes in some unexpected places, which is why I have been curating my Joke of the Day for almost 6 years!
Reading these quotes was a beautiful, uplifting way to start my day. Thank you, Paul.
So happy people enjoyed this post. Truly <3
Here’s one for you Paul that I kept in my notes from May of 2025.
“So maybe you’ll believe me when I tell you that time is a construct. That our lives overlap in ways we will never understand, with our small, infinitesimal selves. That our collective pasts are always with us, as are all the people we’ve ever touched, all the way back to the beginning.” Paul Crenshaw
Yeah but that guy is shady <3
The shorter of the two E.B. White quotes is tombstone worthy. Thanks for all of these.
So happy people enjoyed them, and thanks for letting me know <3
And they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth. Sendak. “Mama don’t stop.” My 2 year old son. Merci for all the love lines.
That is actually my favorite line in WTWTA, but I feel like we have enough of roaring and gnashing right now. Appreciate the comment, and the kind words <3
These quotes are just what we needed this morning! Thanks so much for the inspiration!
I have always had a habit of holding onto quotes—in the deep recesses of my brain, a journal, word document, notes apps. From a very young age, the Quotable Quotes portion of my parents Reader’s Digest was my absolute favorite (as well as the featured photography often on the back cover). I would save the quote and tear off the back cover and place it in the same quote journal. Words and pictures have always been so important to me. Grateful for you, Paul.
Oh wow, I had forgotten about Quotable Quotes. I remember once, right when I first started writing, submitting a story to “Humor in Uniform.” Do you remember that? They were humorous little stories about military life.
I do remember Humor in Uniform and Life in these United States which was a similar funny story submission. That’s so great that you submitted something! My mom always wanted us to send in one of the crazy things that happened over the years but we never did. I am sure there’s a word limit and we’re Irish 🤣🤷🏻♀️.
We don’t say “…to make a long story short”…we always said “..to make a long short longer”
Thank you. I needed--all of these. (I too had such a book in high school. I wonder where it is.)
<3
Thank you thank you thank you.
<3
Thanks Paul. Hard to top Guthrie. Maybe best song ever written was TLIYL but from Bob Dylan’s Talkin WW3 Blues:
“I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours, I said that” certainly have to see entire lyrics for context.
I saw Dylan last year. Bucket list for me. I should have included some of his lyrics too, but I quoted Blowing in the Wind a few essays ago. Hope you’re well, friend.
Everyone needed these quotes now. Samwise was a very smart hobbit. Thank you.
I always see Sean Astin now when I think of Sam, which makes me like Sean Astin again. Appreciate the kind words, friend.
Great stuff as usual! Aside from "Where the Wild Things Are," they were new to me. My daughter especially loved Shel Silverstein; I should know more about him.
My contributions:
--Mother Teresa: "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
--Mother Teresa again: "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."
--Tom Petty: "I'm so tired of being tired. Sure as night will follow day, most things I worry about never happen anyway."
--Tom Petty again: "Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks." I cannot count how many times I have assured my kids of this. And myself, for that matter.
Jenn’s mother gave her an apron with the Mother Teresa/feed a hundred people quote. It’s hanging in our kitchen <3
Everything everyone has already said - 🙏