Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Doctor’s Order: A Little Self-Respect

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, image care of Wikimedia Commmons

Though imagination and creativity form the bread and butter of the writer’s world, there is no greater shield at their disposal than self-respect. If you write, you will be met with criticisms, with ridicule, with doubt. The writer needs to be able to stand against them, to take their words in stride yet have the power and the faith in themselves that they might continue on…

“Self-respect cannot be hunted.  It cannot be purchased.  It is never for sale.  It cannot be fabricated out of public relations.  It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth we have spoken it.” 
~Whitney Griswold

“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” 
~Cyril Connolly

“He that respects himself is safe from others; he wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.” 
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Merry Christmas!

A Christmas greeting and well-wishes from all of us at One Stop Poetry! May all the season treat you well, and find you right, as we wind our way through these wonderful holidays, and into a New Year.

And featuring, “Christmas Bells,” a Poem by the famous Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882):

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The Carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said;
‘For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!’

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!’”