I view it almost a factory of a kind. Raw materials go in the front door as human experience, and writing comes out the back door as a finished good. Both are made of the same stuff, but the writer has transformed the raw material into something more…
Corollary to that is you need to make experiences to fuel your factory, or production stops!
First of all, I 100% agree. Second, this quote is fantastic. I'd never heard it. “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” Thanks to you and Thoreau.
Great point! Also, because the larger context of Thoreau's August 19, 1851 journal entry is wonderful, here is the rest of that quotation (from The Portable Thoreau):
"How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live! Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow, as if I had given vent to the stream at the lower end and consequently new fountains flowed into it at the upper. A thousand rills which have their rise in the sources of thought burst forth and fertilize my brain. You need to increase the draught below, as the owners of meadows on Concord River say of the Billerica Dam. Only while we are in action is the circulation perfect. The writing which consists with habitual sitting is mechanical, wooden, dull to read."
I view it almost a factory of a kind. Raw materials go in the front door as human experience, and writing comes out the back door as a finished good. Both are made of the same stuff, but the writer has transformed the raw material into something more…
Corollary to that is you need to make experiences to fuel your factory, or production stops!
Well said, Alan. Thank you for reading.
First of all, I 100% agree. Second, this quote is fantastic. I'd never heard it. “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” Thanks to you and Thoreau.
Such a good quote right? Good to know it resonated with you, Rick.
Great point! Also, because the larger context of Thoreau's August 19, 1851 journal entry is wonderful, here is the rest of that quotation (from The Portable Thoreau):
"How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live! Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow, as if I had given vent to the stream at the lower end and consequently new fountains flowed into it at the upper. A thousand rills which have their rise in the sources of thought burst forth and fertilize my brain. You need to increase the draught below, as the owners of meadows on Concord River say of the Billerica Dam. Only while we are in action is the circulation perfect. The writing which consists with habitual sitting is mechanical, wooden, dull to read."
Hi Carrie-Ann, thank you for sharing the full quote, I had never seen it! That is indeed wonderful.