"He who stops being better stops being good."
~Oliver Cromwell
It sounds like a quote from Confucius, doesn't it? But nope. Oliver Cromwell was a soldier, statesman, and for a bit, Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland. (And later, interestingly enough, he was posthumously dug up and beheaded.) So, yeah. This quote really had nothing at all do do with writing.
Yet it has EVERYTHING to do with writing.
Does it ever amaze you how much there is to learn when it comes to writing? I'm pretty sure you could learn FOREVER and never run out of things to improve on. Which, actually, is pretty cool. None of that reaching the top and having nowhere to go nonsense. ;) So, yay us! Have a cookie!
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| Photo credit and recipe from Secret Life of a Chef's Wife |
Just make sure to lick your fingers when you're done, before you put those fingers back on your keyboard. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Happy Friday the 13th, Everyone! Especially if you're suffering from paraskavedekatriaphobia. (That's the fear of Friday the 13th. And if you are, you should definitely take another cookie.)(I'm kind of partial to the 13th. The year 13... the day 13... especially when they also fall on the ninth month... ;))
39 comments:
I totally dropped a blob of jelly on my keyboard. Now every time I hit "m," I get "m" and a comma.
Worth it.
This quote was good for me today. Thanks Peggy. :)
Oh my, I need breakfast. Pass me that cookie!
And that poor man. Beheaded AFTER death.
Have a great weekend!
Dear God those cookies look good. I like that quote, too. And, hey, better to be beheaded after death than before it.
What is all that 13 business? Is your birthday September 13th?
They beheaded a dead guy? Stranger than fiction!
Oh duh! 9-13-13 will be your books birthday! I am so slow sometimes!
How do you pronounce that word anyway? LOL Friday the 13th doesn't bother me. Watch I probably just jix myself. LOL
Those cookies look amazing. How I'm hungry.
Oh. My. Those cookies look SO good! And that story about Oliver is strange... They didn't think he was dead enough or something? Have a great weekend!! :D
Why thank you! I think I will have a cookie. ;D The quote is awesome and so true. There is more to be said for the journey than the destination.
PS, one of Cromwell's generals that left England under duress (the self same reason for Cromwell's desecration)was an ancestor. Not sure what that says about me.
You always have great thoughts but it's hard to concentrate on them with that cookie looking me in the face. :)
Man, those are some good lookin' cookies.
Seems that someone *really* didn't like Cromwell.
Good quote, even if Cromwell might have deserved the posthumous decapitation... ;)
My husband and I like to say of writing (and other arts): "Good enough isn't good enough."
I love that there is always more to learn, that's one of the reasons I enjoy writing so much!
There really is so much to learn and those cookies look delicious. Is 9/13/13 going to be on a Friday? That would be cool.
It's a good thing I just made cookies the other day or I'd want to go make them now. Mmmmmm.
Yes, we always have something to learn, don't we? Each book, each draft, each edit...there's always something new! :D
Those cookies look delicious, but all I see is a whole lot of wasted caramel on the wax paper. I think it might have just become a dessert in itself :D
Delicious cookies and delightful quote--yeah, I got those in the right order.
And I would wonder what's so special about the ninth month, thirteenth day of the thirteenth year, but I have a sneaky suspicion it has something to do with a certain book coming out.
Hmmmm ... :-)
Have a great weekend, Pegasus! :)
Everyone in the world is trying to lose weight to meet their resolutions and you post pictures of cookies. You are the devil.
Loved the quote! Thanks! And I wish I read it while eating one of those cookies. They look fantastic! :)
Great quote and interesting facts about Cromwell. Those cookies look beyond amazing! YUM!
Oooh, I like that quote. ANd your picture is making me hungry.
Leigh Ann-- You may have made me snort. (If anyone asks, though, I'll have to deny it.) Best of luck with that M! :)
Kelley-- I don't know about that. I think that given the choice, I'd rather be beheaded after death than before. :)
Delia-- Exactly! Unless I didn't see it coming, so I wouldn't have to stress about the big sharp object coming at my neck, then it wouldn't be so bad. And OKAY. On to happier topics! Care for another cookie?
Jessie-- I know! Kinda pointless to behead a dead guy if you ask me. Even if you REALLY didn't like him. And yes. Book birthday. :D I hope I can keep myself from mentioning it on the thirteenth of every month. O.o
Cynthia-- It doesn't bother me, either. Along with walking under ladders, breaking mirrors, or having a black cat cross my path. And idk about the name. I keep trying, but there are so many syllables that by the time I get to the end, I have no idea what I said at the beginning. I don't think it's meant to be pronounced.
Patti-- I think they have the power to make you hungry even if you weren't. :)
Chantele-- Haha! Maybe they wondered if he might be a vampire or something, so they wanted to make EXTRA sure.
WilyBCool-- An ancestor! Wow. Interesting fact! I think it says about you that you should write a book with a character being the ancestor of one of Cromwell's generals. :D
S.P.-- I know what you mean! I was thinking... Wait. What was I thinking? Those cookies in the background totally distracted me.
JeffO-- Yeah. That's a special kind of "really didn't like." :)
Faith-- Just goes to show that you don't have to be a upstanding individual to come up with a really fabulous quote. :) And I love "Good enough isn't good enough." My dad has one that says "Good enough for who we're doing it for." Which may sound like you can cut corners, but he always said it after he spent hours and hours getting something absolutely perfect, so to me it means, "Perfect is good enough for whoever we're doing it for."
J.A.-- I know! I love that we can always get better!
Jenny-- Oh. My. Gosh. I just looked it up, and it IS on a Friday! I get to release on a Friday the Thirteenth! How cool is that?! Of course, those dates are rarely exact dates, but I can still hope! Thanks for asking! Now I'm all kinds of giddy.
Laura-- Always something new. How can you not love doing something that can boast that?
Jaime-- Wasted? Who said anything about wasted? Yes. Definitely a dessert all by itself. :D
Angela-- Your suspicions, while sneaky, are correct. :)
Carrie-- You, too!
Michael-- Especially ones that are so gooey and chocolatey and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Yep. I'm the devil. I should've posted carrot sticks.
Sara-- I know, right? I have an intense craving right now.
Leigh-- Isn't it nice how some people do things that we can find interesting later? ;D Have a great weekend!
Prerna-- Thanks! And I think I may understand why. ;)
That's a great quote! It seems dead sharks were around even in Cromwell's day!
There is something comforting in the idea there's always some way to improve. Even if trying to learn can feel like climbing a sheer cliff!
Those cookies look so yummy! And I love the quote even though that's creepy that they dug Cromwell up and beheaded him. Ew.
Inspiring quote as always :-) and well the cookies are...delicious-looking! Hope you had a great Friday!
Ooh those cookies look delicious.
It's so true. If a writer stops trying to improve, they start getting worse at what they do. :-)
Your posts always show up in my inbox the next day, Peggy - I don't know why! But at least now I can have one of those delicious-looking cookies for breakfast :) Love the quote. And the details about Oliver Cromwell :)
Don't know about sticky fingers so much as drooling over the keyboard. Blogging challenges have improved my writing too enormously.
We mostly do drool on the keyboard here. We love our cookies too much to lose any gooey goodness.
Sometimes knowing how much there is to learn (and how much of that I want to learn) is frustrating. After all, I don't have forever to learn, and I have other things I need to do. But at least I know I need never be bored. Ever. :)
Cookies look so good... So want one now:) Can't agree more on writers always learning - don't think it ever ends:)
I feel like there's always something more to learn when it comes to writing!!
Mmm...cookies...
Great quote, Peggy. Hung, drawn and quartered was seen to be the most vile of punishments in those days. The body parts were then sent to the four corners of the city so the soul could not get back to the body and cause the spirit to return. Heads on pikes was also pretty bloody, eh!!
At least the cookies look scrumptious...
Happy Friday the 13th! (a couple days late). And you really need to stop posting those cookie pictures. My waist line can't take it!
I'm partial to the 13th, too. My birthday is on the 13th, and it's fallen on Friday often over the years.
Those cookies are finger-lickin' good. Thanks for the inspirational quote, Peggy. Progress is the key!
Oh my, look at those cookies! Can I have some....?
Great quote.
Imogen-- Hahaha! Maybe even more so. ;)
The Golden Eagle-- I agree. It IS comforting to know! And yes, even when it is a sheer cliff face. :D
Donna-- Creepy is right. But who says a guy who made enough people angry that he'd be posthumously beheaded can't give a great quote? :)
Commutinggirl-- Thanks! I hope your weekend was fabulous!
Misha-- Isn't it funny how that works? But I totally agree.
Susanna-- I don't know why, either! I wish I knew how to even find out. Sigh. And MMmmmm. Breakfast. :D
Madeline-- Yes, drool has definitely become a problem. ;) It's amazing how much we get out of blogging, isn't it?
Stacy-- Here, too. :D
Colin-- I totally understand. It always feels like that mass amount of learning all needs to happen RIGHT NOW. Luckily, it waits patiently. Unlike us. ;) But it is pretty cool to know we'll never be bored!
Tfwalsh-- I agree.
Cortney-- Yeah. It's more of a "What should I learn first" kind of thing. :D
Writer Pat-- Seriously? They quartered people so their souls couldn't return? Sometimes I think it's a REALLY good thing I didn't live in those times. Besides: no showers. I'll take now, thanks.
Janet-- Thanks! You, too! And see, that's why I post the pictures instead of the actual thing. ;)
Emily-- My birthday was on the 14th, but 13 was ALWAYS one of my favorite numbers. I think it would be fun to have a birthday that sometimes fell on Friday the thirteenths! And I agree. Progress = key.
Romance Reader-- Of course! Take several!
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