Words to teach, write, and live by
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” —Mark Twain
Witness:
SHAZAM!!
Cute, but no shazam.
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“A story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way, and it takes every word in the story to say what the meaning is.” — Flannery O’Connor
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“The poet lights the light and fades away. But the light goes on and on.” — Emily Dickinson
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“Works of art are of an infinite solitariness, and nothing is less likely to bring us near to them than criticism. Only love can apprehend and hold them, and can be just towards them. – Decide each time according to yourself and your feelings in the face of every such declaration, discussion or introduction; if you should still be wrong, the natural growth of your inner life will lead you slowly in the course of time to other perceptions. Let your judgments have their own quiet, undisturbed development, which must, like all progress, come from deep within, and cannot in any way be pressed or hurried. It means everything to carry for the full time and then bring forth.” —Rainer Maria Rilke Letters to a Young Poet
See that? It's an almost fully formed critical thought, waiting to be brought forth.
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“Don’t worry about knowing what you’re doing. All teachers are bullshitters anyway.” — C.L., international teaching mentor
Of course I understand how to scan iambic pentameter, and I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself. But I want YOU to show us, Little Johnny. You can do that, can't you? Can't you?!
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“Never bullshit a bullshitter.” — My dad
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“It’s not cussing if you’re quoting.” — My mom
The Catbird Seat 
It is easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission
I like this one. It’s a classic. Somehow it makes me think of Grandma changing the thermostat without the OK from Grandad…
I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. ~Lily Tomlin as “Edith Ann”
Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions. ~Author Unknown
Modern cynics and skeptics… see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing. ~John F. Kennedy
A successful teacher, like a successful parent, becomes unnecessary. ME!
Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more. ~Bob Talbert
And, a closing thought:
We’ve all run into teachers who took great pride in how hard they were and how many students they would fail. These are not teachers. These are people seeking power rather than touching hearts and minds.
Great list! I hadn’t heard the Kennedy quote before, but it seems spot on. It is a strange situation, isn’t it?