Daily Dialogue — June 19, 2015

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, “O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. That you are here — that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”

— Dead Poets Society (1989), written by Tom Schulman

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Wisdom.

Trivia: What attracted Robin Williams to the role of John Keating more than anything else was that John Keating was the type of teacher he, in his school days, always wished he had.

Dialogue On Dialogue: I’m guessing each of us, like Robin Williams, wish we had had a teacher like Keating… with wisdom exhibited in the featured dialogue.