Citation de Gwennndolinee
The next day several of the night revelers yawned as they sat in Mr. Keating’s class. Keating, however, paced vigorously back and forth in front of the room.
“A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use...” He snapped his fingers and pointed to a boy.
“Morose?”
“Good!” Keating said with a smile. “Language was invented for one reason, boys -” He snapped his fingers again and pointed to Neil.
“To communicate?”
“No,” Keating said. “To woo women. And, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.”
The class laughed. Keating closed his book, then walked to the front of the room and raised a map that had covered the blackboard. On the board was a quotation. Keating read it aloud to the class:
“Creeds and schools in abeyance, I permit
to speak at every hazard, Nature without
check with original energy...”
“Uncle Walt again,” he said. “Ah, but the difficulty of ignoring those creeds and schools, conditioned as we are by our parents, our traditions, by the modern age. How do we, like Walt, permit our own true natures to speak? How do we strip ourselves of prejudices, habits, influences? The answer, my dear lads, is that we must constantly endeavor to find a new point of view.” The boys listened intently. Then suddenly Keating leaped up on his desk. “Why do I stand here?” he asked.
“To feel taller?” Charlie suggested.
“I stand on my desk to remind myself that we must constantly force ourselves to look at things differently. The world looks different from up here. If you don’t believe it, stand up here and try it. All of you. Take turns.”
“A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use...” He snapped his fingers and pointed to a boy.
“Morose?”
“Good!” Keating said with a smile. “Language was invented for one reason, boys -” He snapped his fingers again and pointed to Neil.
“To communicate?”
“No,” Keating said. “To woo women. And, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.”
The class laughed. Keating closed his book, then walked to the front of the room and raised a map that had covered the blackboard. On the board was a quotation. Keating read it aloud to the class:
“Creeds and schools in abeyance, I permit
to speak at every hazard, Nature without
check with original energy...”
“Uncle Walt again,” he said. “Ah, but the difficulty of ignoring those creeds and schools, conditioned as we are by our parents, our traditions, by the modern age. How do we, like Walt, permit our own true natures to speak? How do we strip ourselves of prejudices, habits, influences? The answer, my dear lads, is that we must constantly endeavor to find a new point of view.” The boys listened intently. Then suddenly Keating leaped up on his desk. “Why do I stand here?” he asked.
“To feel taller?” Charlie suggested.
“I stand on my desk to remind myself that we must constantly force ourselves to look at things differently. The world looks different from up here. If you don’t believe it, stand up here and try it. All of you. Take turns.”