I am convinced that, except in a few extraordinary cases, one form or another of an unhappy childhood is essential to the formation of exceptional gifts.
quote by Thornton Wilder

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
General principles should not be based on exceptional cases.
quote by Robert J. Sawyer

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
General principles should not be based on exceptional cases.
Robert J. Sawyer in Calculating God (2000)

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Personality is essential. It is in every work of art. When someone walks on stage for a performance and has charisma, everyone is convinced that he has personality. I find that charisma is merely a form of showmanship. Movie stars usually have it. A politician has to have it.
quote by Lukas Foss

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Wolfpack
Howling the pack in formation appears
Diamonds and clubs, light misted fog, the dead
Waving us back in formation,
The pack in formation
Bowling they bat as a group
And the leader is seen - so early...
The pack on their backs, the fighters
Through misty the waving - the pack in formation
Far reaching waves
On sight, shone right
I lay as if in surround...
All enmeshing, hovering...
The milder I gaze
All the animals laying trail
Beyond the bough winds
Mild the reflecting electricity eyes...
Tears, the life that was ours
Grows sharper and stronger away and beyond
Short wheeling - fresh spring
Gripped with blanched bones - moaned
Magnesium, proverbs and sobs...
Howling the pack in formation appears
Diamonds and clubs, light misted fog, the dead
Waving us back in formation,
The pack in formation...
song performed by by Pink Floyd

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I firmly believe that all human beings have access to extraordinary energies and powers. Judging from accounts of mystical experience, heightened creativity, or exceptional performance by athletes and artists, we harbor a greater life than we know.
quote by Jean Houston

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
We have to say now we think the character of the party has changed so far it will take something very exceptional, something really out of the ordinary line to make us be convinced there's a chance of winning back the party.
quote by Shirley Williams

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces.
quote by Matthew Henry

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I am more convinced than ever that a lively two party system is essential to our democracy.
quote by Stockwell Day

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Childhood's Christmas
Christmas opened childhood
Like heroes opened games,
And gifts were just the standard
For those with your same name.
Christmas ringed our childhood
Like hoodlums ring a fight,
And no one could believe it-
That Santa was a lie.
Christmas ended childhood,
That day we knew the truth:
We damned our own eye’s knowledge
Of wisdom's sorry proofs.
poem by Patti Masterman

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
It is quite extraordinary how very various are the opinions entertained on this point, and, before sifting them, one must be careful in the first place to eliminate from our inquiry the cases of that considerable class of persons who pinch themselves.
quote by James Payn

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Unhappy Cause
I'm unhappy cause my dad's an alcoholic and my mom's a side stripper.Unhappy cause my daddy moved on from my birth mom now I've got a step mom.Unhappy when she calls me these cruel things, they're so mean, it makes me want to scream.
Unhappy to be here this day..
wishing it would end someway!
(6/1/07)
poem by True Pixie ...Smith

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Extraordinary
Extraordinary
The love u make 2 me its some kind of scary
I would b a fool 2 leave u 4 I was born 2 love u
This is true
Extraordinary
The way u make me feel
Im so very glad its real
And not a dream
Even though it seems I am dreaming
People try 2 break us up
Valentines a little rough
But we survived cos we had a love
Extraordinary
Id give the world 2 u
Each and every thing u do is so very nice
U make my clock tick 12 twice
Then disappear time and everything else
When u r near
Extraordinary
song performed by by Prince

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I'm absolutely convinced that the threat we face now, the idea of a terrorist in the middle of one of our cities with a nuclear weapon, is very real and that we have to use extraordinary measures to deal with it.
quote by Dick Cheney

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing of a vague difficulty into a specific, concrete form is a very essential element in thinking.
quote by J.P. Morgan

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
My Unhappy Anniversary
You ask me, how am I?
Well I'm still standing, aren't I?
That's something, that's one thing , that's gone my way
It's so hard, to go out, like everything ok now
When inside, I still cry for yesterday
This is my unhappy anniversary! !
But I lie, saying it's just another day
This is my unhappy anniversary! !
I know it's so stupid to feel brokenhearted
I wonder if you know just how much I hurt
I drink up and think up a toast to numb the hours
To get through without you is so hard today
Cause it's unhappy anniversary! !
And now it's near midnight, a few minutes and I
Return to get back to my former life
Pretending our ending was not so bad, I know that
It's time to escape you until next year
When it's unhappy anniversary! !
This is my unhappy anniversary
But I smile like it's just another day
It's just my unhappy anniversary
poem by Vivek Khanna

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

It has, moreover, been proven that horror, nastiness, and the frightful are what give pleasure when one fornicates. Beauty is a simple thing ugliness is the exceptional thing. And fiery imaginations, no doubt, always prefer the extraordinary thing to the simple thing.
quote by Marquis de Sade

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Why has not anyone seen that fossils alone gave birth to a theory about the formation of the earth, that without them, no one would have ever dreamed that there were successive epochs in the formation of the globe.
quote by Georges Cuvier

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Gifts of Life and Pollution
Nature's gifts are sunny beaches,
Nature's gifts are rocky mountains,
Nature's gifts are vast oceans,
Nature's gifts are the tranquil colors in the rainbow,
Nature's gifts are rain forests,
Nature's gift is life.
Our gifts are oceans filled with toxins,
Our gifts are global warming,
Our gifts are deserted forests,
Our gifts are killed animals,
Our gifts are serious diseases,
Our gift is pollution.
poem by Melanie Jackson

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I am woman
I am woman I'm strong and proud
I'm not afraid to love or laugh out loud
I am woman exceptionally exceptional woman
that's me
I am woman I'm courageous and bold
I'm not afraid to give my heart and my soul
I am woman exceptionally exceptional woman that's me
I am woman I don't strive for perfection
I am not perfect at times I seek directions
I am woman exceptionally exceptional woman yes that's me.
poem by Cindy Cato

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Proving Themselves To Be Exceptional
For those proving themselves to be exceptional,
At what it is they do...
Someone critiquing with envy is near by.
With the familiar comments made,
Heard coming from the mouths of those...
Who are exceptional at wasting time.
The ones whose efforts are perfected with discipline,
Will always be despised by those who have none.
And they are usually the ones showing their expertise,
In the feeding of self centeredness...
Fed to an unlimited greed.
Gorging their faces and sipping on diet drinks.
For those proving themselves to be exceptional,
At what it is they do...
Someone critiquing with envy is near by,
While licking their fingers.
And attempting in conversation to convince others,
If they had the time they could do what others do too!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!