An online commonplace book
Roald Dahl has a rare talent to be able to just invent these stories that have details and ideas in them that stick in people’s minds for decades and decades – that they never forget.
– Wes Anderson
They need to no question, release this collection on Blu-Ray.
1.
For the first time in his life he was throwing himself into something with genuine enthusiasm. And the progress he made was remarkable.
pp139
2.
Was it not possible that the process he had gone through in order to acquire yoga powers had completely changed his outlook on life?
Certainly it was possible.
pp154
3.
John Winston told me everything he knew. He showed me the original dark-blue notebook written by Dr. John Cartwright in Bombay in 1934 about Imhrat Khan, and I copied it out word for word.
“Henry always carried it with him,” John Winston said.
“In the end, he knew the whole thing by heart.“
pp168
It could be an early morning thought hallucination, but The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar suggests the idea that focusing on one thing, over an extended period of time, with sustained enthusiasm, can impact many lives.
What begins as Henry’s single focus then expands to other opportunities. First Henry aims to master concentrating only on the image of his face for five and a half minutes. He masters it. Then he moves to mastering visualizing the reverse side of a playing card within twenty seconds. This then develops to strategic gambling, establishing a non-profit, and leaving behind a clandestine legacy of generosity.
But it all began with a single focus.
From: Dahl Roald. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. New York: Viking, 1977.
Some people, when they have taken too much and have been driven beyond the point of endurance, simply crumble and give up. There are others, though they are not many, who will for some reason always be unconquerable. You meet them in time of war and also in time of peace. They have an indomitable spirit and nothing, neither pain nor threat of death, will cause them to give up.
Little Peter Wilson was one of these.
Dahl Roald. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. New York: Viking, 1977.
Be one of these.
Floodlights and Goalposts