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The value of time.
The success of perseverance.
The pleasure of working.
The dignity of simplicity.
The worth of character.
The power of kindness.
The virtue of patience.
The wisdom of economy.
The obligation of duty.
The influence of example.
The improvement of talent.
The joy of originating.
(1940s)
This is an amazing expression of art and philosophy. It was written on a small jagged piece of cardboard, above, that looks like the corner of a laundry detergent box, in ink, and looks like it was written hastily. The parallel syntactical structure, the repetition of “the” and “of,” interlocked with 24 separate words that spell out mom’s ideals or principles for living, truly create a mini-masterpiece. I can imagine her having this inspiration while doing her chores, maybe just emptying out the soap box and tearing off the corner, and then sitting down for a moment (only a moment, for she never wrote long epic or two page poems!) and jotting down these lines, then tucking them away somewhere later that evening. I know that is how she went through her day, working and thinking and “originating” all day long and, lucky for us, putting some of herself down on scraps of paper or cardboard for us to have sometime way down the line. Important, too, is the fact that there are twelve principles here, twelve very positive statements about how to view life. I don’t think this is accidental. Twelve is a significant number and mom was very conscious of its many associations: moons, months, apostles, hours in a day, children in her own family, etc. She thought in these patterned yet multi-layered ways. The multi-leveled symmetry here is remarkable and, I’m sure, deliberate.
The success of perseverance.
The pleasure of working.
The dignity of simplicity.
The worth of character.
The power of kindness.
The virtue of patience.
The wisdom of economy.
The obligation of duty.
The influence of example.
The improvement of talent.
The joy of originating.
(1940s)
This is an amazing expression of art and philosophy. It was written on a small jagged piece of cardboard, above, that looks like the corner of a laundry detergent box, in ink, and looks like it was written hastily. The parallel syntactical structure, the repetition of “the” and “of,” interlocked with 24 separate words that spell out mom’s ideals or principles for living, truly create a mini-masterpiece. I can imagine her having this inspiration while doing her chores, maybe just emptying out the soap box and tearing off the corner, and then sitting down for a moment (only a moment, for she never wrote long epic or two page poems!) and jotting down these lines, then tucking them away somewhere later that evening. I know that is how she went through her day, working and thinking and “originating” all day long and, lucky for us, putting some of herself down on scraps of paper or cardboard for us to have sometime way down the line. Important, too, is the fact that there are twelve principles here, twelve very positive statements about how to view life. I don’t think this is accidental. Twelve is a significant number and mom was very conscious of its many associations: moons, months, apostles, hours in a day, children in her own family, etc. She thought in these patterned yet multi-layered ways. The multi-leveled symmetry here is remarkable and, I’m sure, deliberate.
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2 comments:
I found these same writings written in the front cover of The Principles and Practice of Nursing, 1934 edition at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Library It had been covered up by the library check out slip so I'm so glad you have this here. I was able to determine what number 11 was! Thanks again for posting!
Thanks, OUCN, for sharing the origin of this. Very fascinating. Not surpirsing that my mom may have scribbled them off of a nursing text, or some other secondary source. She was an avid reader...when she had a moment!
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