Eternal, Poetic Wisdoms

... courtesy of Danish poet, Piet Hein.

The Eternal Twins

Taking fun as simply fun
And earnestness in earnest
Shows how thoroughly thou none
Of the two discernest.

Wanting To Be Able To

"Impossibilities" are good
Not to attach that label to;
Since, correctly understood,
If we wanted to, we would
Be able to be able to.

Making an Effort

Our so-called "limitations", I believe,
Apply to faculties we don't apply.
We don't discover what we can't achieve
Until we make the effort not to try.

Comments

[Bucky Four-Eyes]

Hein is a wise dude. I've spent the summer discovering what I can't achieve!

[eclectic]

Sometimes, calling something "impossible" is just a way to keep from injury during the attempts. Sometimes, if you're clumsy, that's probably wise. ;)

[CircusKelli]

Ow. I has hadache now.

[MidgetViking]

I love Piet Hein! He's even better in Danish, though (she quipped smugly), just listen to the rhythm of the first 'gruk' in Danish:

Den der kun tar spøg for spøg
og alvor kun alvorligt,
han og hun har faktisk fattet
begge deler dårligt.

I've known this by heart from I was about 7 and once made the mistake of trying to get a friend to understand the message. She was not amused. Go figure.

[wordgirl]

Well...that last one may as well have been written about me. I'm being totally serious. I hear the first step is admitting what your problem is and fear of trying (for fear of failure) is one of my biggest. I'm working on changing that in the next couple of weeks.