by Éadaoin Counihan, Writer's Soc Vice-Secretary To begin the 2021-2022 academic year, Writers' Soc decided to collect words of wisdom from returning to campus (or setting eyes on campus for the first time after the long haul year of online Zoom classes). We disguised our noble pursuit as a raffle. A raffle where the entry fee was your favourite quote from any form of fiction. Novel, autobiography, your grandmother, a film or a notorious tv series that ran season upon season. Then plucked from post-it notes of wisdom we settled on Aoife Ryan's entry: "Dum Spiro Spero" "While I breathe, I hope" (for those of you who don't casually read Latin.) From Jennifer Estep's Mythos Academy.
Next a random grab of fingers brushed along the universe’s chosen one, Aleksandra Chodola’s quote claimed the other raffle prize:
“I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.”
From Yann Martel’s Life of Pi.
With the promise of a mysterious and coveted prize (a notebook) the entries gave us a glimpse into this year’s profile of Writers’ Soc. To give you a brief overview here is my personal favourite of the quotes submitted:
“What, you egg!”
From Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Good life advice in general:
“Gardening is only a waste of time if you don’t enjoy it.”
-John Green
“Please believe that one single positive dream is more important than a thousand negative realities.”
From Adeline Yen Mah’s Chinese Cinderella.
Looking for some classic quotes and look no further than these entries:
“Life moves pretty fast if you don’t stop and look you might miss it.”
-Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
“Do not go gently into that good night […] Rage, Rage against the dying of the light.”
From Dylan Thomas’ Do not go gentle into that good night.
Quotes that have us concerned for humanity (and maybe a little amused):
“Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.”
From Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather.
“90% of the people in this world are fools and the rest of us is in great danger of contamination.”
From the Musical Hello Dolly.
Starting strong and ending strong, this profile of this year’s Writers’ Soc members closes with a quote fit to be a writing prompt by itself:
“Honour is dead, but I’ll see what I can do.”
From Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance.
Mission complete. Words of wisdom collected and documented for the benefit of all. If you want to let us know what your favourite quote is why not join us on Thursdays (we’re currently online) between 7-9pm. The link to join will be up on your yourspace calendar!
https://www.jenniferestep.com/series/mythos-academy-series/
https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/macbeth-play/pdf/
https://www.johngreenbooks.com/
https://www.adelineyenmah.com/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/
https://poets.org/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night
https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/1313/hello-dolly
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