(written in 1902 or 1903. c. 1909.)
The dancer of the future will be one whose body and soul have grown so harmoniously together that the natural language of that soul will have become the movement of the body. The dancer will not belong to a nation but to all humanity. She will dance not in the form of nymph, nor fairy, nor coquette, but in the form of woman in her greatest and purest expression. She will realize the mission of woman's body and the holiness of all its parts. She will dance the changing life of nature, showing how each part is transformed into the other. From all parts of her body shall shine radiant intelligence, bringing to the world the message of the thoughts and aspirations of thousands of women. She shall dance the freedom of woman.
Oh, what a field is here awaiting her!...She will help womankind to a new knowledge of the possible strength and beauty of their bodies, and the relation of their bodies to the earth, nature and to the children of the future. She will dance the body emerging again from centuries of civilized forgetfulness, emerging not in the nudity of primitive man, but in a new nakedness, no longer at war with spirituality and intelligence, but joining with them in a glorious harmony.
This is the mission of the dancer of the future....her movements will become godlike, mirroring in themselves the waves, the winds, the movements of growing things, the flight of birds, the passing of clouds, and finally the thought of man in his relation to the universe.
Oh, she is coming, the dancer of the future: the free spirit, who will inhabit the body of new woman, more glorious than any woman that has yet been; more beautiful than the Egyptian, than the Greek, the early Italian, than all women of past centuries -- the highest intelligence in the freest body!
Quotes, poems and stories offered in a contemplative space (no comments or ads). Peace be with you.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
quote by Henry David Thoreau
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
Prayer for Protection (1941), by James Dillet Freeman (1912 - 2003)
The light of God surrounds me;
The love of God enfolds me;
The power of God protects me;
The presence of God watches over me.
Wherever I am, God is!
The love of God enfolds me;
The power of God protects me;
The presence of God watches over me.
Wherever I am, God is!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
quote by Eckhart Tolle
Most people are so distracted by their thoughts, so identified with the voices in their heads, they can no longer feel the aliveness within them. To be unable to feel the life that animates the physical body, the very life that you are, is the geatest deprivation that can happen to you.
Poem by Chinese poet Li Po (c. 700-762)
You ask why I live in the mountain forest,
and I smile and am silent,
And even my soul remains quiet:
It lives in the other world
Which no one owns.
The peach trees blossom.
The water flows.
and I smile and am silent,
And even my soul remains quiet:
It lives in the other world
Which no one owns.
The peach trees blossom.
The water flows.
The best things in life, by Robert Louis Stevenson
The best things in life are nearest.
Breath in your nostrils,
light in your eyes,
flowers at your feet,
duties at your hand,
the path of right just before you.
Breath in your nostrils,
light in your eyes,
flowers at your feet,
duties at your hand,
the path of right just before you.
The Eighties: A Reminiscence
From "A Sprocket in Satan's Bulldozer: Confessions of an Investment Banker," by Ted Rall, in issue number 6 of Might, a bimonthly published in San Francisco. Rall worked at the New York City branch of the Industrial Bank of Japan from 1986 to 1990. He is now a cartoonist.
In early 1986, one of our clients, Mitsui Real Estate Ltd., expressed interest in purchasing the Exxon Building in Manhattan. Mitsui asked us to contact Exxon and find out how much they wanted. Exxon's asking price of $375 million for the 1970s-style building seemed high to us, and we knew that Exxon was hot to sell. We relayed the price to Mitsui and told them that Exxon would probably accept a lower offer.
A few weeks later Mitsui called to say that they wanted to offer Exxon $610 million.
Neither my boss nor I could believe it. We prodded our rep at Mitsui for information, and he finally admitted their reason for deliberately overpaying by $235 million: "Our president read that the current record price paid for a single building, as listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, is $600 million. He wants to beat the record."
Exxon's lawyers were perplexed. "Look, just pay us the asking price of $375 million, and everything'll be fine. We can't accept more than the asking price -- the regulators will think you're bribing us."
Mitsui insisted: they would pay $610 million or nothing at all. Why not $600,000,001? Because the record breaker had to look good. That extra ten million would be for appearance -- as was, in fact the whole deal. How about a more expensive building? No, this one had the right location.
Exxon almost turned down the money, but then their lawyers came through: "If Mitsui can get us an opinion stating that it is legal to overpay to this extreme extent, we will consent to accepting the offer."
A half hour before Mitsui's president was supposed to sign the contracts, my boss and I sat down with him to argue. We presented our research.
"It isn't necessary to go through with this. If it's publicity you're looking for, there are better ways. We could put Mitsui's name on every billboard in America for a year. The ad agencies would be thrilled. We called the New York City Board of Education: that money would bring the facilities at every public school in all five boroughs up to current standards. The press would be huge! Isn't that better than some listing in the Guinness Book?"
This clearly wasn't registering.
"The City says they can build apartment units for homeless people at $10,000 a pop. That's twenty-five thousand people off the streets--the Coalition for the Homeless says there's only forty thousand in the whole city? Think about it -- 'Mitsui virtually eliminates poverty in New York City!'"
He listened politely as we pleaded for his quarter-billion. Then he left to sign the papers. We went back to our offices. I've never felt so dirty.
********************************
[Note: This piece was published in the August 1995 issue of Harper's Magazine, in their "[Anecdote]" column. I happened to be working in this building at the time, for the Anderson Kill & Olick law firm. Thanks to Gene Anderson for copying and distributing it (with his handwritten "A Little Building History" on top) to his employees. By the way, the building was a beautiful and well-maintained place to work. - WT]
In early 1986, one of our clients, Mitsui Real Estate Ltd., expressed interest in purchasing the Exxon Building in Manhattan. Mitsui asked us to contact Exxon and find out how much they wanted. Exxon's asking price of $375 million for the 1970s-style building seemed high to us, and we knew that Exxon was hot to sell. We relayed the price to Mitsui and told them that Exxon would probably accept a lower offer.
A few weeks later Mitsui called to say that they wanted to offer Exxon $610 million.
Neither my boss nor I could believe it. We prodded our rep at Mitsui for information, and he finally admitted their reason for deliberately overpaying by $235 million: "Our president read that the current record price paid for a single building, as listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, is $600 million. He wants to beat the record."
Exxon's lawyers were perplexed. "Look, just pay us the asking price of $375 million, and everything'll be fine. We can't accept more than the asking price -- the regulators will think you're bribing us."
Mitsui insisted: they would pay $610 million or nothing at all. Why not $600,000,001? Because the record breaker had to look good. That extra ten million would be for appearance -- as was, in fact the whole deal. How about a more expensive building? No, this one had the right location.
Exxon almost turned down the money, but then their lawyers came through: "If Mitsui can get us an opinion stating that it is legal to overpay to this extreme extent, we will consent to accepting the offer."
A half hour before Mitsui's president was supposed to sign the contracts, my boss and I sat down with him to argue. We presented our research.
"It isn't necessary to go through with this. If it's publicity you're looking for, there are better ways. We could put Mitsui's name on every billboard in America for a year. The ad agencies would be thrilled. We called the New York City Board of Education: that money would bring the facilities at every public school in all five boroughs up to current standards. The press would be huge! Isn't that better than some listing in the Guinness Book?"
This clearly wasn't registering.
"The City says they can build apartment units for homeless people at $10,000 a pop. That's twenty-five thousand people off the streets--the Coalition for the Homeless says there's only forty thousand in the whole city? Think about it -- 'Mitsui virtually eliminates poverty in New York City!'"
He listened politely as we pleaded for his quarter-billion. Then he left to sign the papers. We went back to our offices. I've never felt so dirty.
********************************
[Note: This piece was published in the August 1995 issue of Harper's Magazine, in their "[Anecdote]" column. I happened to be working in this building at the time, for the Anderson Kill & Olick law firm. Thanks to Gene Anderson for copying and distributing it (with his handwritten "A Little Building History" on top) to his employees. By the way, the building was a beautiful and well-maintained place to work. - WT]
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
quote by Albert Schweitzer
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)