Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Here's a quote from good ole Faulkner

Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner (1897-1962) gets a lot of credit for his fiction. Today I want to praise him for his philosophy.

Here's a quotation from him that was reprinted on the Nov. 29, 2006 entry of the First Amendment calendar from the Freedom Forum in Arlington, Va.

"Man is immortal... not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance."

Faulkner hits on what is most beautiful about us. As a crime reporter, I get to see and hear about the ugly side a lot. It's nice to have a reminder of what's good now and then.

This Southern master of the written word made this statement in 1950. If "Light in August" and his other works didn't show us, words like this should prove he really knew something about himself and the rest of us mere humans.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What!?! I think you're living in the pink and fluffy world, not me! "What is most beautiful around us," "the ugly side..." that's my terminology! See you on Sat. -bethany

Anonymous said...

He also said this, "My own experience has been that the tools I need for my trade are paper, tobacco, food, and a little whisky."

I knew I should have been a writer!

Adam Kealoha Causey said...

Haha! I know a lot of journalists around here who would agree, anonymous!