The title of this blog is taken from the quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., which I 've seen written as “Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them!”, or, more prosaically, as “Many people die with their music still in them. Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it time runs out.”
Thomas Gray, sitting in a Churchyard, was inspired to write along similar lines:
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
Or wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre.
But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page
Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll;
Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.
Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.
More recently, Denzel Washington gave a similar piece of advice to the 2011 graduating class at U.Penn:
“Imagine you’re on your deathbed—and standing around your bed are the ghosts representing your unfilled potential. The ghosts of the ideas you never acted on. The ghosts of the talents you didn’t use. And they’re standing around your bed. Angry. Disappointed. Upset. ‘We came to you because you could have brought us to life,’they say. ‘And now we go to the grave together.’ So I ask you today: How many ghosts are going to be around your bed when your time comes? You invested a lot in your education. And people invested in you. And let me tell you, the world needs your talents.”
I had to google to find that quote, and Denzel got the idea from motivational speaker Les Brown. The blog that quotes it also has this, from Maya Angelou:
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
So I am using this space to write out my untold stories and ideas. I might not have time to implement all of my ideas, but as long as I put them out there, I will have accomplished something.
Thomas Gray, sitting in a Churchyard, was inspired to write along similar lines:
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
Or wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre.
But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page
Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll;
Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.
Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.
More recently, Denzel Washington gave a similar piece of advice to the 2011 graduating class at U.Penn:
“Imagine you’re on your deathbed—and standing around your bed are the ghosts representing your unfilled potential. The ghosts of the ideas you never acted on. The ghosts of the talents you didn’t use. And they’re standing around your bed. Angry. Disappointed. Upset. ‘We came to you because you could have brought us to life,’they say. ‘And now we go to the grave together.’ So I ask you today: How many ghosts are going to be around your bed when your time comes? You invested a lot in your education. And people invested in you. And let me tell you, the world needs your talents.”
I had to google to find that quote, and Denzel got the idea from motivational speaker Les Brown. The blog that quotes it also has this, from Maya Angelou:
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
So I am using this space to write out my untold stories and ideas. I might not have time to implement all of my ideas, but as long as I put them out there, I will have accomplished something.
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