By Madhava Gosh das
As more and more devotees are writing for devotee websites, blogging, or on the verge of blogging, the following is a collection of quotes that may pertain, even with the more relaxed standards of blogging:
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.
– Mark Twain
By writing according to our realization we become more and more convinced and all doubts are destroyed.
– Srila Prabhupada, Letter to: Pusta Krsna ‘ Hyderabad 23 March, 1973
Realization means you should write, every one of you, what is your realization. What for this Back to Godhead is? You write your realization, what you have realized about Krsna. That is required. It is not passive. Always you should be active. Whenever you find time, you write. Never mind, two lines, four lines, but you write your realization.
– Srila Prabhupada, Sri Brahma-samhita, Verse 32 Excerpt ‘ Los Angeles, August
14,1972
Writing is the most disciplined form of thinking. It allows us to be precise, to stand back and examine what we have thought, to see what our words really mean, to see if they stand up to our critical eye, to see if they make sense and can be understood by others.
– Donald Murray
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
~ William Strunk, Jr.
When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.
– Enrique Jardiel Poncela
Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.
– John Ruskin
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
– Mark Twain
A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
– Thomas Mann, novelist, Nobel laureate (1875-1955)
I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.
– Oscar Wilde
A true yogi observes Me in all beings and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realized person sees Me, the same Supreme Lord, everywhere.
Bhagavad-Gita 6.29
A novelist must preserve a child-like belief in the importance of things which common sense considers of no great consequence.
– W. Somerset Maugham
There is only one trait that marks the writer. He is always watching. It’s a kind of trick of the mind and he is born with it.
– Morley Callaghan
I hope you will continue this attitude and improve the quality and writing of Back To Godhead both nicely.
– Srila Prabhupada; Letter to: Rayarama ‘ Seattle 15 October, 1968
There is no good writing, only good rewriting.
– Justice Brandeis
Sit down, and put down everything that comes into your head and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.
– Colette, Casual Chance
The wastepaper basket is the writer’s best friend.
– Isaac Bashevis Singer
One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment.
– Hart Crane
Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
– Anton Chekhov
First of all the jokers would talk in such a way that the Lord and His associates would enjoy their humor, which would refresh the morning mood.
‘ Krishna Book 70: Lord Krsna’s Daily Activities
When humor goes, there goes civilization.
– Erma Bombeck
Brevity is the soul of wit
– Shakespeare
Wonderful. I especially like the one about the jokers. :-)
Thanks for these qoutes Madhava Ghosh prabhu, very insightful. I especially liked the one by Thomas Mann.
Here’s another one from a letter Srila Prabhupada wrote to the GBCs in May of 1976, requesting them to relieve him from management so that he could finsh the Srimad Bhagavatam:
” It is document, I have to choose each word very soberly, and if I have to think of management then I cannot do this. I cannot be like these rascals who present something mental concoction to cheat the public.”
And from a press interview on July 14, 1976 in New York:
“‘A fool is so long beautiful as long as he does not speak.’ When he speaks, then you can understand what he is. So my speaking are there in the books, and if you are intelligent, you can understand. You haven’t got to ask. Just like in a court. A big lawyer is known when he speaks, otherwise everyone is a good lawyer. But when he speaks in the court, then he is known, whether he is good lawyer or not. So you have to hear, you have to read; then you’ll understand.”
Your humble servant, Hari-sauri dasa
Sometimes when writing an article, the words I express, or the ideas I espouse are much bigger and larger than life than the person writing – myself. The articles may have an air of sobriety and authority beyond what would normally be expressed, which may lead some to wonder if I am as serious as my messages, or a bragging rights devotee.
Whichever way a reader may gauge my temperament, the fact is, when writing on spiritual subject matters, I write in a way which, whenever in the future I may look back over my old writings, I can safely say to myself, “I did the best to please the vaisnavas, and purify myself simultaneously.”
In fact, the only reason to write is for the pleasure of others and the edification of oneself. What may appear to be an overt, or strong underlying message is actually directed at oneself. So writing is a form of self preaching.
Ys, kesava Krsna dasa.
Dear Madhava Gosh das,
Dandavat and Hare Krishna. Whether writing or speaking about Krishna, we are the beneficiaries, having the opportunity to further hear about Krishna. Afterall, we are not the body, and the world is going on under the Puppet-Master, Sri Krishna.
There were times when I first went to South Africa (1973-1976) desperate to make devotees who would be able to carry on the mission there, knowing that I could be deported at any moment, when I felt sad by the small numbers of people who were coming. And some loss of enthusiasm was happening in me that perhaps I should just read and study Srila Prabhupad’s books. At that time, I asked Srila Prabhupad whether I should preach when I felt like that, or when it seemed there was even no one around to preach to. Srila Prabhupad said, “Go one preaching. “You” will hear even if no one else is around. You will be benefitted.”
Over the years, as I have matured with age, become less restless, I have had the opportunity to reflect on Srila Prabhupad’s early days in the USA. He first went to Butler, Pennsylvania to stay with the Indian family that sponsored his first visit to the US. We can see the photos of Srila Prabhupad, playfully interacting with their children. In fact, with all of the urgency that Srila Prabhupad instilled in us, His Divine Grace was always very peaceful, yet determined. He never appeared rushed. One of our godsisters (about 8 years ago at the LA Prabhupad Memorial Weekend) noted how Srila Prabhupad always took time to answer the devotees questions. In fact, I can verify that he would ask about every letter that was addressed to him, and Srila Prabhupad would most often give a personal reply. As his secretary, I would type up his reply, and he would then read them over carefully, even making corrections, and personally sign the letters. How much affection and attention he gave to his disciples!!!!!!!! He never appeared rushed or bothered.
Remember that the wonder of writing or speaking is that Krishna & His representative are engaging us in bhakti through sravanam, kirtanam, and smaranam (hearing, chanting and remembering). And, Srila Rupa Goswami summed up in this way: All of the rules and regulations, prescriptions and restrictions, lead to the dictum: Always remember Krishna, and never forget Krishna. Hare Krishna. Faithfully, Pusta Krishna das