Years ago I read Charles W. Conn's book of pithy one-liners called The Pointed Pen. He was sharp. Inspired by the memory of this book (I'd read it while visiting Coatepec on the outskirts of Xalapa, Mexico) I decided to comb through my own journal notebooks to see what kind of gems I might find. Unfortunately, there was more pulp than pith, more bones than meat, more rocks than gems.
While cleaning out some drawers this weekend I came across a couple of sheets of those notes and decided to post them here.
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A mind whose feet teetered under the weight of a thousand rickety tensions.
What do you demean by that? (Peter O)
How'd they get so jaded?
Waisted Minds slogan: A Waist is a terrible thing to mind.
"Red is the soil of Burma, Red also are its cliffs." (from The Harp of Burma)
The great battle for significance is a battle against irrelevance.
"If I'm so successful, why am I so lonely?"
How to get blessed: Be a blessing.
Why are Texans so Austintatious?
Song of the Matrix (EdNote: This was 10 years before the movie.)
The Four Atomic Sons of Madame Fauvre [title]
Jimmy Johnson's Message to his team after Super Bowl Victory: "This feeling of love that you share right now you will have the rest of your lives."
A man who needs nothing can afford to risk everything. (8-28-88)
Freestyle Frost Flicker --> Name of Product for cleaning ice off windows
"The melancholy of all things done." (Buzz Aldrin, after returning from moon)
"The footprints we left on the moon were not ours but were for all mankind." (Aldrin)
His blood turned to wine and sang through his veins.
Knitting his brows, he lapsed into an introspective state, his lips moving as one who utters mystic nonsense.
"I'm gonna max out my Monkey card." (newspeak example)
The Power Cafe (name for a restaurant)
The Magic of Northern Italy
They were stereotypes, cardboard cutouts, punched out from pre-fabricated liberal lexicons.
Is this man really capable of conceiving a penetrating question?
Opinionitis
P.I.N. Formula (Dr. Edward de Bono)
P = Positive aspect
I = Interesting aspect
N = Negative aspect
Exploit the possibilities in an idea.
Point of View: A particular way of assigning priorities to the factors involved in a situation.
To be effective we must learn how to tame our value judgments. We cannot listen and hear if we are always making snap judgments. A mature mind becomes more effective when it is able to suspend value judgments.
She lived a life encumbered by long sets of inner rules that bound her more tightly than chains.
Ogilvie said, "The greatest sin in advertising is to be boring."
The second greatest sin: Not agreeing with David Ogilvie
Creativity and courage to take risks...
Content and form...
Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
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Keeping a notebook fosters discipline, sharpens observational skills, and preserves moments that might otherwise fade. The faintest ink outlasts the strongest memory. For Fitzgerald, his notes (e.g., The Crack-Up) reveal his process, blending raw creativity with meticulous craft, essential for any writer’s growth.
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