Why Albert Einstein, the Genius Behind the Theory of Relativity, Loved His Pipe | At the Smithsonian | Smithsonian
May 1, 2015 Leave a comment
Apparently, the love of a good pipe does not require smoking it.
The Stimulus of Teaching
November 14, 2009 Leave a comment
Why did Karl Barth’s productivity as a writing scholar diminish following his retirement from teaching? Some say it’s because the pressure to produce had run out [see here].
What T. H. L. Parker wrote is that Barth “lost the stimulus provided by the need to give lectures.” The key word here is “stimulus,” not “pressure.” Teaching is the ideal stimulus for scholars who write, especially if they teach graduate courses to gifted students. The stimulus of teaching can be likened to the frequent re-lighting of tobacco in a well-used pipe.
Book and Briar
June 27, 2008 Leave a comment
The second stanza of the five-stanza poem, “I Have a Few Friends,” by Canadian Poet Robert Service [1874-1958] elebrates the friendship of book and briar:
I have some friends, some honest friends,
And honest friends are few;
My pipe of briar, my open fire,
A book that’s not too new;
My bed so warm, the nights of storm
I love to listen to.
Source: Collected Poems of Robert Service
Dedication to Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow
June 26, 2008 Leave a comment
Here is the unabridged dedication Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) wrote for his book The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (published 1886):
THE VERY DEAR AND WELL-BELOVED
FRIEND
OF MY PROSPEROUS AND EVIL DAYS—
TO THE FRIEND
WHO, THOUGH, IN THE EARLY STAGES OF OUR ACQUAINT-
ANCESHIP, DID OFTTIMES DISAGREE WITH ME, HAS
SINCE BECOME TO BE MY VERY WARMEST
COMRADE—
TO THE FRIEND
WHO, HOWEVER, OFTEN I MAY PUT HIM OUT, NEVER (NOW)
UPSETS ME IN REVENGE—
TO THE FRIEND
WHO, TREATED WITH MARKED COOLNESS BY ALL THE FEMALE
MEMBERS OF MY HOUSEHOLD, AND REGARDED WITH
SUSPICION BY MY VERY DOG, NEVERTHELESS,
SEEMS DAY BY DAY TO BE MORE DRAWN
BY ME, AND IN RETURN, TO MORE
AND MORE IMPREGNATE ME
WITH THE ODOR OF HIS
FRIENDSHIP—
TO THE FRIEND
WHO NEVER TELLS ME OF MY FAULTS, NEVER WANTS TO
BORROW MONEY, AND NEVER TALKS ABOUT HIMSELF—
TO THE COMPANION
OF MY IDLE HOURS, THE SOOTHER OF MY SORROWS,
THE CONFIDANT OF MY JOYS AND HOPES—
MY OLDEST AND STRONGEST
PIPE,
THIS LITTLE VOLUME
IS
GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY
DEDICATED
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