‘All rising to great place is by a winding stair’
Oliver, Henry. Second Act: What Late Bloomers Can Tell You About Success and Reinventing Your Life. United Kingdom, John Murray Press, 2024. p.1
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Tag: persistance
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It is interesting to learn once more how much further one can go on one’s second wind. I think that it is an important lesson for everyone to learn for it should also be applied to one’s mental efforts. Most people go through life without discovering the existence of that whole field of endeavor which we describe as a second wind. Whether mentally or physically most people give up at the first appearance of exhaustion. Thus they never learn the glory and the exhilaration of genuine effort…
– Agnes Meyer
Agnes Meyer was Mrs. Graham’s mother. Mrs. Graham the former CEO of the Washington Post.
This was the valuable lesson Agnes instilled.
Oliver, Henry. Second Act: What Late Bloomers Can Tell You About Success and Reinventing Your Life. United Kingdom, John Murray Press, 2024. p.3
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Graham, Personal History, p. 40.
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There is often great frustration in this work. I say this not to discourage anyone; it’s just a way of life. One way to get through it is sheer discipline. This isn’t about physical discipline, rather a certain psychological state. Plough on no matter how many spectacular humiliations and undignified defeats you suffer.
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Writers and filmmakers are all alone; there is usually no one to help you, so just get off your ass and start walking. When you make a film or write a book and roll it out to audiences, be prepared to deal with either kicks to the stomach and slaps to the face or complete indifference. Most of the time no one cares about what you’re doing, except you. A filmmaker’s existence is different from that of a train conductor or bank teller. You have made certain choices about your life, which means you need to learn to overcome the despair and loneliness. Stay focused, quiet and professional at all times. Face what comes at you. You can never be irresolute, not for a single second. Plant yourself into the ground and move for no one. Make films only if there is a natural urge within. Switch off your Internet connection and get to work.
A film maker’s existence is different than a train conductor or bank teller, but whatever you aim to accomplish in 2024 you’ll encounter slaps to the face, kicks to the stomach, and indifference.
Hearken back to wise ol’ uncle Werner’s words – plough on.
Cronin, Paul. Werner Herzog – A Guide for the Perplexed. London: Faber & Faber, 2020. pp243-244
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and don’t worry about not being clever. Trust rather to hard work, perseverance, and determination. The best motto for a long march is ‘Don’t grumble. Plug on.’ “You hold your future in your own hands. Never waver in this belief. Don’t swagger. The boy who swaggers-like the man who swaggers- has little else that he can do. He is a cheap-Jack crying his paltry wares. It is the empty tin that rattles most. Be honest. Be loyal. Be kind. Remember that hardest thing to acquire is the faculty of being unselfish. As a quality it is one of the finest attributes of manliness.
– Sir Frederick TrevesThis from The Dangerous Book for Boys, by Hal and Conn Iggulden. This passage lives before even the table of contents. It’s a gauntlet thrown. A marker that tells you, reading this book will be an adventure.
A brief note on Sir Frederick Treves. He was a radical British surgeon who saved by Edward VII by draining his appendix. A surgical technique not used during that time.
Floodlights and Goalposts 