Little or Everything #MondayMusings
I discovered Dr Seuss’s books pretty late in life. I just can’t believe that I had not heard about his books when I have
been an avid reader since I was a kid. I am still not able to fathom, why I never saw his books in our school and club library which had impressive collection of books. And then, I never came across his works when I was making Aaryan read books appropriate for his age. And this is when I have been buying books for him since he was a toddler!
When JK Rowling wrote, “I expect what you’re not aware of would fill several books, Dursely”, she actually meant it for me! As I was beating myself up for not knowing about this best selling author all these years, I realized that we cannot possibly know or be even properly informed about the majority of subjects in the world. In fact, we are all ignorant about so many things. The information available today is so vast, its depth and breadth boundless and bottomless.
As these thoughts were beginning to comfort me, I read a contrasting thought from Blaise Pascal. Yes, the gentleman who gave us the famous Pascal’s Law and Pascal’s Theorem. He believed in Little of Everything. He said, as we cannot be universal by knowing everything there is to know about everything, we must know a little about everything, because it is much better to know something about everything than everything about something.
For me, this Little of Everything seems to be a scary and a tedious proposition at this moment, so, I’d like to console myself that we cannot know everything and it’s better late than never.
And I have digressed so much. Coming back to Dr Seuss, it was only recently, when I found a review article on one of his books that my interest was piqued. I scanned the web and found a few ebooks and enjoyed listening to an audio book too. And now, I cant wait to read all the 46 books that Dr Seuss or Theodor Seuss Geisel has written.
Dr Seuss’s books not only have imaginative characters and fantastical rhymes but great inspirational life advice too.
Today, I came across this infographic which has some inspiring quotes from Dr Seuss to help perk up our week . Enjoy reading and soaking in the wisdom.
Image : Source
Have you read books from Dr Seuss? Do you believe in Little of Everything ? Is it actually possible?
Linking this to Write Tribe’s #MondayMusings
August 3, 2015 8:08 pm|
Loved your post on Dr. Seuss and about knowing a little about everything and how it’s okay not to know about everything. How can you? There is too much to know out there and that’s what makes life interesting anyhow. I like learning new things every day and expanding my world.
I enjoyed Dr. Seuss as a kid and credit it him for my enjoyment of writing poetry and nonsense type rhymes. He was the master for sure. My kids enjoyed his books, too. They are classics that stand the test of time and crossing over borders to different countries.
August 3, 2015 8:19 pm|
I haven’t read the books from Dr. Seuss sadly but looks like I should..Which one should I start with Shilpa?
August 3, 2015 8:33 pm|
Oh I love his books. They’re such absolute fun. I love the way he coins new words if he can’t find real ones. How The Grinch Stole Christmas remains a family favourite.
August 3, 2015 8:41 pm|
Why fit in when you can stand out – Me, me!! 🙂
Destination Infinity
PS: I’ll check the books sometime 🙂
August 3, 2015 10:39 pm|
I read Dr.Seeuss when my children went to school. I love his style of writing.. I have many of his books in my ccllrction.Very well written.
August 4, 2015 1:41 am|
I’m reading Dr Seuss’s book right now for my kid. 🙂 I had heard of his books before but only now I got to read them. 🙂
August 4, 2015 8:01 am|
I have heard of Dr. Seuss, never read any of his books though. And I don’t agree with Pascal. It is not possible to know about everything in this world. Not even little about everything.
August 4, 2015 12:19 pm|
I haven’t even read a single Dr. Seuss book. Any suggestions about where to start from.
August 4, 2015 12:26 pm|
I haven’t read any of his books but I have heard that they are very profound.
Which one do I start with?
August 4, 2015 1:20 pm|
So glad you discovered Dr Seuss’ books. They are a family favourite and absolutely ‘unputdownable’ in every sense of the word. The quotes as you mentioned are not just for kids, they have far deeper meanings and something you’ll find universally true! By all means, enjoy them Shilpa 🙂
August 4, 2015 2:06 pm|
Lovely post and sorry to say that I’ve read any books of Dr. Seuss. But would love to read. Also, I loved the 30 quotes! So fabulous and I totally agree.
One of the Sunday Punches will be this one Shilpa if you don’t mind 🙂
August 4, 2015 6:06 pm|
I had heard about Dr. Seuss but never read his books. But, need to rectify that now. And among the quotes, I loved the 2nd one the most. ‘Dont cry that its over, Smile that it happened.’ Beautiful and simple.
August 5, 2015 2:23 am|
I always loved his books.
August 5, 2015 1:17 pm|
I loved this post shilpa, I have heard his name, but never made an attempt to read, enjoyed every quote here, thanks for inspiring me today !
August 5, 2015 3:56 pm|
I think I will have to read Dr. Seuss soon, somehow I seem to have missed getting around reading his works :/
August 5, 2015 3:57 pm|
I think I will have to read Dr. Seuss soon, somehow I seem to have missed reading his works :/
August 5, 2015 7:59 pm|
There is ‘One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish’ too; good for early readers. However, The cat in the hat is more acclaimed. I had first seen the movie by the same name and then bought the book for my kid.
August 5, 2015 8:24 pm|
Those are all great quotes. I had no idea Dr. Suess was that prolific. 🙂
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” Love this one, especially!
August 5, 2015 10:38 pm|
Shilpa, you have motivated so many of us to read his books 🙂 lovely post and quotes. Love this quote, ‘Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.’
August 6, 2015 1:41 am|
I don’t think Dr Seuss books were well-publicized or circulated in India at our time! I hadn’t heard of him either until I came to the States. Just like Americans haven’t heard of Enid Blyton! 🙂
I fell in love with his books with starting Green Eggs and Ham, which I bought for my older son, then 2! All his books are geared towards young readers but they’re also highly philosophical and resonate with all of us!
August 6, 2015 7:01 am|
I’ve read Dr Seuss both as a child and now as a grandma and even though I appreciate the rhymes sometimes, I find that the illustrations are downright ugly and the philosophy he propagates not always what I’d like to teach my children. But they’re fun nonetheless and I suppose as caregivers we shouldn’t control every thought of the child but in fact expose him/her to a wide range of things so that they can make a choice and not be limited by the fact that they didn’t know such a thing existed.
August 6, 2015 7:41 am|
I haven’t read his books but I am a big fan of his quotes. They rhyme and are filled with inspiration. I think I should also grab a book.
August 7, 2015 10:51 am|
Some good quotes there, Shilpa! Enjoy reading the books, you have some work cut out for yourself – 46 🙂
Personally speaking….I hear a lot about many things, authors, books, films, places etc – that everyone says you must read or watch or travel. But I never go by any of that 🙂 I am perfectly fine and comfortable at not having any read any of the popular bestsellers, of our times or of all times (like Dr. Seuss)! I happen to think that meaningful knowledge is not so much about knowing this or that thing, but about how we make sense of what goes on inside us when we are given an external stimulus – whether it is a book or a life-experience, big or small.
August 12, 2015 4:17 am|
Even I had not read his book until I came to US. He is quite popular in US and not so much in India. I love all his books!
August 12, 2015 12:43 pm|
I hadn’t heard of Dr. Seuss’s books till recently. No, they were not really well known in our school days. I completely agree about knowing a little of everything. It is hardly possible to know everything about everything.
August 13, 2015 1:14 am|
Considering it is impossible to know everything about everything, I would prefer to know a little about most things and a lot about some things.
Oh and yes, Dr Seuss is just the best. I love his quotes more than his books, but his book are very very good too. 🙂