"But his misfortune was that he loved youth - he was weak to it, it kindled him. If there was one eager eye, one doubting, critical mind, one lively curiosity in a whole lecture-room full of common place boys and girls, he was its servant." - Willa Cather, The Professor's House

This helps solidify my desire to be a teacher.

"Pity the narrow margin." - Patti Digh, Life is a Verb, ix

I hate small margins in books...where am I supposed to write? How can I annotate and engage with a text if I can't mark my presence?

A few quotes to consider from Willa Cather's The Professor's House.

"But the fact is, the human mind, the individual mind, has always been made more interesting by dwelling on the old riddles, even if it makes nothing of them."

"It struck him that the seasons sometimes gain by being brought into the house, just as they gain by being brought into painting, and into poetry."

"She wouldn't have made herself look quite so well if Louie hadn't been coming, he reflected. Or was it that he wouldn't have noticed it if Louie hadn't been there?"

"In great misfortunes...people want to be alone. They have a right to be. And the misfortunes that occur within one are the greatest. Surely the saddest thing in the world is falling out of love - if once one has ever fallen in."

"It's not that I need easy right now, I just can't have so hard."
-Eat, Pray, Love

From Eat, Pray, Love, a dialogue between Richard from Texas and "Groceries," as he calls her.


"I know you feel awful. But your life's changing. That's not a bad thing. And you're in a perfect place for it. Surrounded by grace."
"I thought I was over him but .... I love him."
"Big deal. So you fell in-love with someone."
"But I really miss him."
"So miss him. Send him some light and love everytime you think of him, and drop it.... If you could ugh... clear up all that space in your mind that you're using to obsess over this guy and your failed marriage, you'd have a vaccum with a doorway. And do you know what the universe will do with that doorway?... Rush in! God. Rush in! Fill you with more love than you've ever dreamed of..... Groceries, I think you have the capacity some day to love the whole world."

Soul Mate

I have been considering the idea of "soul mate," and I have decided, for now, that a soul mate may not be the person you see every day or the person you spend your life with or marry. And a person can have more than one soul mate in a lifetime. They come and go but remain always a part of you. The idea of a soul mate does not seem to be about compatability or who you get along with or with whom you can spend your days. Instead, it seems to be more about who understands you better than anyone else. And you understand them in return and accept them for the person they are. A soul mate is a person who sees right through you, gets you, sees you and recognizes your value more than you are able to recognize it yourself. Just to have met them and know they exist is enough.