Until that moment of exchange…I had neglected to see the life that was all around me. I was a perfect candidate for the wisdom in those great lines of Middlemarch:
If we had a keen vision and feeling for all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar that lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity.
Well wadded with stupidity.
~ Roger Housden, Saved by Beauty: Adventures of an American Romantic in Iran.
Credit: Photo – Mennyfox55
Live & Learn 
Indeed…but for brief, brilliant moments such as this.
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And some are wadded a bit stronger than others. Always seeking that roar on the other side of silence. Lovely piece.
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Yes. As I avert my eyes from the mirror.
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Funny…I woke up this morning with quite a similar thought on my mind but his composition of words told it in an exquisite voice.
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It is exquisite. Agree.
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yes..so beautifully said and this could not be more timely.
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Today as is was when it was written. Yes.
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well wadded with stupidity or fear. I think it is fear.
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Fear of being alone with oneself and his/her thoughts. Agree.
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Always looking for that roar on the other side of silence. Elusive.
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Oh, so me too.
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Keep on walking and hopefully stupidity will be left behind.
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smiling. true.
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DK I so learn from your offerings! Thank you…Mary Ann Evans, book, Middlemarch was published under her pseudonym of George Elliot. Her masterful words of wisdom still appreciated after 144 years. Her words “other side of silence” and “well wadded with stupidity” resonate within me, causing a long pause of reflective thought…so many peoples thoughts are held captive, encased in place, confined inside…perhaps if one continues on a walking journey they will decompress enough to open and see what is in front of one’s eyes, right at their feet, beside them and up above, leaving what is behind and hear the ‘roar’ of energy flowing and encounter beauty that emanates from all life…they will gain…
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Had no idea that George Elliot was a pen name for Mary Ann Evans. So, I had to look it up (Wiki). Wonderful history here…including that many felt that George Elliot was the greatest living author at the time. Thanks for sharing this with me Christie.
“She used a male pen name, she said, to ensure her works would be taken seriously. Female authors were published under their own names during Eliot’s life, but she wanted to escape the stereotype of women only writing lighthearted romances. She also wished to have her fiction judged separately from her already extensive and widely known work as an editor and critic. An additional factor in her use of a pen name may have been a desire to shield her private life from public scrutiny and to prevent scandals attending her relationship with the married George Henry Lewes, with whom she lived for over 20 years.”
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So good!
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Isn’t it though!
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…this is timeless reflection on an eternal subject–was it Proust who said we needn’t search for new landscapes, but rather develop new eyes? ‘the squirrel’s heartbeat’–what a delightful phrase. thank you for visiting me so often. I have myself ‘following’ you, yet I don’t get your posts posted on my list for some reason, and must try to find out why.
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Not that I have been able to finish Proust’s classic but yes. He said: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” I think this statement by Proust beautifully captures Maryann Evan’s (aka George Eliot) thoughts and feelings. Thanks for sharing and following along.
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yes, and it’s hard to pull out the cotton at times –
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Smiling. Truth.
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That roar that lies on the other side of silence – my favourite quote!
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I believe that…based on the soft flow and gentleness of your poems.
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Ah, how sweet!
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She sits here nodding and hmm-mmming in total agreement. To stay rooted in this. ..
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Root away Friend.
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