ON: MUSEUMS

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

A museum is an art gallery whose contents are determined by the dead. 

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

A museum is a building run by people who can not make up their minds if they are historians or art collectors.  They usually manage to bore us in both categories. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic effort by the (post)humous Emily Dickinson, “Eternity can reside in a written line.”  To attempt to appreciate it, please visit the following.

 http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: RULES

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

Some are remembered for keeping rules; others are remembered for breaking them.  I would rather be remembered for creating them.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

I would rather be forgotten because of the rules I bypassed. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “None know the depth of Human Mean.”  To attempt to appreciate it, please visit the following. http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: REPETITION

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
In art objection to repetition is no more valid than objection to the same meal being served twice.  There is no basis for criticism as long as the execution is well done.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
The same principle applies to marriage to the same woman... as long as the execution is done effectively, and early enough in the marriage.  

ON: NATURE AND ART

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

Nature is less harmonious than art and thus is more exciting while being less predictable. 

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

I sometimes wish my home life were more artistic and less natural.   

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “Alone in My Room.”  To attempt to appreciate it, please visit the following. http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: LOVE'S EXCHANGE

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

No one regrets loving.  We regret only not being loved back to the same degree.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

We might be able to make mutual love equal, if only we could figure out a way to measure the darn thing. 

You may also be interested in a formerly suppressed poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “Butterflies and Bees can be.” Should you wish to attempt to understand it, please visit the following site.  http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: CREATING HAPPINESS

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

I can not make everyone happy.  They too easily and too often envy me, and for just cause.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

My works make people so much more happier than I do that I often wonder if I wrote them myself.  

ON: CULTURE

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

An established culture is the means by which the dead influence the living. 

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

I thought the dead influenced the living by leaving their debts behind for us to pay. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “Hurt Stays Longer than Snow.” Should you wish to attempt to understand it, please visit the following site.  http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: HOPE

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

Experience is what is left when Hope dies and is buried.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

Hope is the last thing a boy gives up upon becoming a man. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “When Soft Dawn Comes Slow.”  To attempt to appreciate it, please visit the following. http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: CLERGYMEN

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

A clergyman is a bridge between God and man.  Like a bridge he is frequently forgotten after a single use.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

What bothers me about this simile is that the tolls never stop, or even go down. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “I write poems.” To attempt to understand it, please visit the following site (and cite). http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: HAPPINESS

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

The greatest pleasure is anticipation; the second is remembrance; it is the part in between these two that disappoints us so often.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

I thought that every married man had a wife to remind him how happy he was, now, that he married her.  Mine does.

 You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “Although I am a Poet.” To attempt to understand it, please visit the following site (and cite). http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: PORNOGRAPHY

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

The main difference between pornography and modern art is that pornography is intended to please the audience. 

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

One man’s pornography is usually another man’s also. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “Not a Day Goes By.” To attempt to understand it, please visit the following site (and cite). http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: MODERN ERRORS

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

A major error of modern times is that, because we have more knowledge, we believe make fewer mistakes.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

I believe that Mr Wilde could be mistaken on that, but I do not know for certain.

 You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “I am confined.” To attempt to understand it, please visit the following site (and cite). http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: INCLINATIONS

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

To cultivate our tastes is obligatory; to restrict our desires is admirable; to conquer our feelings is impossible.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

What we do not want to change in ourselves we make inevitable in others. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “I ACCEPT ALL NATURE.” To attempt to appreciate it, please visit the following site (and cite). http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: ART

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

Clarity is necessary to appreciate art; delusion is necessary to create it.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

To me art is imagination compressed and placed into an orderly sequence. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “Some Day.” To attempt to appreciate it, please visit the following site (and cite). http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: LEARNING FROM OTHERS

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES                                

Emerson stated that “our best thoughts come from others.” This is true, but only for others.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

I would disagree if I were other than who I am. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poetic work by the (in)famous Emily Dickinson, “A Kiss on the Hand.” To appreciate it, please visit the following site (and cite). http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: MAKING MISTAKES

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

A man may learn more from mistakes than from accomplishments.  At least, this is what I have been told by those who may know.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

An author’s mistakes live after him, without possibility of correction or defense.  We should all publish posthumously, if at all. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered birthday card by the famous Emily Dickinson, “Death comes for Bird and Bee.” To read it, please visit the following site (and cite). http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: VALUE

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
The value of a thing, or person, increases when we realize the possibility of loss.


MARK TWAIN REMARKS
By this standard a thing loses value once it is found again.

ON: SHARING

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

A joy shared does not lessen but increases.  The same does not apply to accomplishments. 

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

We humans are so busy worrying about who gets credit for doing good that we seldom enjoy the result.

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poem by Emily Dickinson, “I Have Put Away.”  (She did not discover this poem, as she wrote it) Please visit the following   http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: BEAUTY

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES                    

It may be true that our culture places an overemphasis on the value of physical beauty.  However, it does have the advantage of inducing in me a sympathy for others. 

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

Beauty is only skin deep.  As I can see no deeper than this, this always has been sufficient for me. 

You may also be interested in a newly uncovered poem by the formerly dead Emily Dickinson, “If Love is to be Found,” To read it, please visit the following site (and cite). http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: MORALITY

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES                    

Profound morality, similar to great music, can induce us to express regret for sins that we never committed.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

This sounds like the exact opposite of alcohol, which makes us regret having never committed expressly those sins. 

You may also be interested in a newly uncovered poem by Emily Dickinson, “Some Day, When I’m Old,” To read it, please visit the following site (and cite).

http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: THE NATURE OF FICTION

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

A good work of fiction conveys truth without being inhibited by facts.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

A good work of fiction reveals what we would like to see happen… frequently to our enemies. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poem by Emily Dickinson, “Books Expand the Universe.”  (She did not discover the poem herself, as she wrote it) Please visit the following   http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: RELIGION

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

Religion is a system that too often attempts to solve intellectual problems by first declaring the intellect to be fatally defective. 

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

If religion solved too many problems it would soon put itself out of business. 

You may also be interested in a newly discovered poem by Emily Dickinson, “Heaven is a Thing Variable.”  (She did not discover the poem herself, as she is dead, and has been for several months.) Please visit the following

http://vinlewis.typepad.com/emily_dickinson/    

Several books by Vincent P. Lewis are available on-line at Amazon and Lulu.  Please search by author’s name.  

ON: MEMORY

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
Those with the most precise and tedious memories are often those with experiences least worth remembering.  


MARK TWAIN REMARKS
On the other hand that makes them relatively easy to forget.  

ON: FEELINGS

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
To cultivate one's taste is a necessity; to modify one's desires is admirable; to conquer one's feelings is impossible.  


MARK TWAIN REMARKS
What we decline to change in ourselves we re-define as necessities.  

ON: ART/WRITING

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
If art is too self-evident then it is appealing to too many.  If it is too self-conscious then it is appealing to too few.

MARK TWIAN REMARKS
Modern art is, pretty much, appalling to everyone.