Standard Candle

Famous quotes containing the words standard and/or candle:

    “This unlettered man’s speaking and writing are standard English. Some words and phrases deemed vulgarisms and Americanisms before, he has made standard American; such as “It will pay.” It suggests that the one great rule of composition—and if I were a professor of rhetoric I should insist on this—is, to speak the truth. This first, this second, this third; pebbles in your mouth or not. This demands earnestness and manhood chiefly.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “What did you do with your fear,
    later? Through the years of humiliation,
    of paranoia and blackmail and near-starvation, losing
    the love of those you loved, one after another,
    parents, lovers, children, idolized friends, what kept
    compassion’s candle alight in you....”
    —Denise Levertov (b. 1923)