Dr. Seuss' Sluthes.

In honor of Dr. Seuss' belated birthday, today's quote is from possibly the greatest children's book of all time; The Lorax. Now, I understand that there is a movie about this 'blessing from heaven.' If you haven't read it, but have seen the movie, reflect on your actions, and read the book; Reviews from this movie are—as usual—in a non-agreement stage. But that's no reason that the book is bad. Movies are usually a poor representation of what the author actually wanted to portray, but that's for another time. Back to the Seusster, Even books written by him in the 1960s, are still extremely popular, and have great lessons for kids (and maybe some adults too). And I for one, am ecstatic that this quote was included if not in the movie, then at least the preview:

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing's going to get better, it's not."

Wise words Dr. Seuss, wise words indeed. Not only is is radical and inspirational, it also rhymes! Need I say more? I don't think so, but I will anyway. The funny thing about Dr. Seuss' books is that he never wrote them with a moral in mind, or so he claims. He said that "Kids can see a moral a mile away." That's very true; Hansel and Gretel, don't go into strange people's houses, especially ones made out of candy; Little Red Ridding Hood, don't talk to strangers, especially the wolves; Goldilocks and the Three Bears, don't go into someone's house eat their porridge, and sleep in their bed. Although Dr. Seuss didn't write specifically with a moral in mind, the Lorax is heavy propaganda against pollution and has numerous environmental elements in it; I think this quote can be applied to topics other than 'saving the trees.' It is very general, no hint of petroleum or green energy is to be found. The word 'nothing' is vague enough that people can generalize and apply the concept to oodles of other things. For example, issues such as women's suffrage, the civil rights movement, and the abolition of slavery, etc. would have never happened unless someone cared. But because someone—or someones—said, "(topic) is not just! (topic) is not fair!" something was changed, something got better. And that's what this quote is really all about, standing up for what's right and changing things for the better.

Quotes, Quotes, Quotes.

If someone was to tell me that I was an extremely serious person I'd have to agree with them. I consider myself a deep person because when I talk to people I always want to say things that are on my mind or have come into my mind because of something that has occurred during the day. I like serious things and talking about serious things and I really enjoy serious quotes. I have realized that I need to accept the fact that I'm a serious person and at the same time, try to live like a normal adult ripe with youth (AKA the amount of energy 3 cups of coffee gives and the silliness of being able make a wish in a fountain after I toss in a coin). Since no one really reads blogs—"The Julie/Julia experiment", or whatever it was called was just a happy coincidence—I figure I can travel into the deep end and be sad just like I want to; just without sounding like a weirdo to any of the people I actually have close-personal-relationships with. I'm actually a fairly cheerful person, I just like having deep thoughts sometimes.

"And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep."
-Kurt Vonnegut

This quote obviously shows that Mr. Vonnegut is talking about the present. It makes me think that he's questioning whether anyone has a say in their future. There are so many variables for everything, a single decision made by someone can alter so many other lives. I think he's questioning whether we can change the future, or do we just have to take the hand that's been dealt. The last phrase 'mine to keep' implies that things change whether you want them to or not; the earlier phrases imply that he thinks not all of our futures are as 'wide and open' as we think they are. From the phrase 'how wide' and 'how deep' implies that not everyone has the same opportunities; I agree with that. There are very hard working people in the world who would help themselves and their families if only their country wasn't controlled by a dictator or they didn't live in poverty. We all must deal with the life we've been given, the difference is whether the narrow 'present' limits your wide 'future.'