{"id":4617,"date":"2016-07-11T16:56:25","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T16:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/repeatright.com\/engine\/?p=4617"},"modified":"2018-10-09T03:20:16","modified_gmt":"2018-10-09T03:20:16","slug":"atkinson-brooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.repeatright.com\/engine\/atkinson-brooks\/","title":{"rendered":"ATKINSON, Brooks"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453315804311{margin-top: -40px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531588223-e020d87d-f7dd094f-cf63b96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cBe kind. Be kind, not only to friends, but to strangers. Preserve in the soul a kindly incandescence so that wherever you go a kindly glow passes through the streets and fills the home with light. There is nothing more that anyone can say. None of the poisons of life can rot the characters of human beings who are honest and kind.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Brooks Atkinson<\/strong>, American journalist & theater critic<\/p>\n

Journal entry (30 August 1950) Once Around the Sun<\/em>, New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1951 [first edition] p. 251; online via Boston Public Library & Open Library [free subscription service] openlibrary.org<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531588755-96303790-852e094f-cf63b96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>[Diary entry, August 30]:<\/p>\n

\u201cBe kind. Be kind, not only to friends, but to strangers. Preserve in the soul a kindly incandescence so that wherever you go a kindly glow passes through the streets and fills the home with light. There is nothing more that anyone can say. None of the poisons of life can rot the characters of human beings who are honest and kind.<\/span> If only it were possible to tell children these simple things!\u201d (pp. 250-251)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1449531589797-29580b31-8c50094f-cf63b96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – Once Around the Sun<\/em> (1951) Open Library [free subscription service] & Internet Archive: https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/oncearoundsun00atki#page\/250\/mode\/2up<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315829087-ce67c619-0fbcb96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cEvery man with an idea has at least two or three followers.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Brooks Atkinson<\/strong>, American journalist & theater critic<\/p>\n

Journal entry (2 January 1950) Once Around the Sun<\/em>, New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1951 [first edition] p. 5; online via Boston Public Library & Open Library [free subscription service] openlibrary.org<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315829475-7c82a017-1e62b96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> [Diary entry, January 1950 \u2013 on New York City]:<\/p>\n

\u201cYet from all over the world ideas pour into New York day and night throughout the year like pulsations in an electric current. Raise a voice in Java and New York hears it. Fire a shot in Palestine and one hundred New Yorkers spring to arms. Dancers in India, orchestra leaders in Italy, actors in Dublin, writers in London, make pilgrimages to Gotham and are welcome. There are no lonely geniuses here. Every man with an idea has at least two or three followers. <\/span>We give houseroom to the people of all nations. (pp. 4-5)<\/p>\n

Source note<\/em><\/strong>: Atkinson\u2019s quote was featured as part of a 1974 IBM (International Business Machines) Corporation advertising campaign. You can view one of the ad posters here, via the Library of Congress: https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/item\/2015646143\/<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315829682-63e8fade-cf4cb96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – Once Around the Sun<\/em> (1951) Open Library [free subscription service] & Internet Archive: https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/oncearoundsun00atki#page\/4\/mode\/2up<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1eb96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cI have no objections to churches so long as they do not interfere with God\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Brooks Atkinson<\/strong>, American journalist & theater critic<\/p>\n

Journal entry (10 November 1950) Once Around the Sun<\/em>, New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1951 [first edition] p. 325; online via Boston Public Library & Open Library [free subscription service] openlibrary.org<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bfb96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> [Diary entry, November 10]:<\/p>\n

\u201cTo anyone who believes that God extends through all forms of human nature as well as wild nature, the whining tone of the professional dominie is intolerable. It is also insulting to God, who needs no protection. It is professional cant, like ham acting. In case God is interested in manners, He would probably enjoy having men behave like men instead of like obsequious valets. I have not objection to churches so long as they do not interfere with God\u2019s work.<\/span>\u201d (p. 325)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e0b96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – Once Around the Sun<\/em> (1951) Open Library [free subscription service] & Internet Archive: https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/oncearoundsun00atki#page\/324\/mode\/2up<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531591105-7edf5f39-feaa094f-cf63b96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cIt takes most men five years to recover from a college education, and to learn that poetry is as vital to thinking as knowledge.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Brooks Atkinson<\/strong>, American journalist & theater critic<\/p>\n

Journal entry (31 August 1950) Once Around the Sun<\/em>, New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1951 [first edition] p. 252; online via Boston Public Library & Open Library [free subscription service] openlibrary.org<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531591631-43861bc7-da28094f-cf63b96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> [Journal entry, August 1950]:<\/p>\n

\u201cGenius looks forward, according to Emerson. Books and knowledge are the things from which the scholar departs into the realm of life and creation. It takes most men five years to recover from a college education, and to learn that poetry is as vital to thinking as knowledge.<\/span> Any hack can accumulate knowledge methodically.\u201d (p. 252)<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1449531592891-f39e055b-a66e094f-cf63b96e-87f8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – Once Around the Sun<\/em> (1951) Open Library [free subscription service] & Internet Archive: https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/oncearoundsun00atki#page\/252\/mode\/2up<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1524268228862-9b7b349e-2815″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cPeople everywhere enjoy believing things that they know are not true. It spares them the ordeal of thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for what they know.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Brooks Atkinson<\/strong>, American journalist & theater critic<\/p>\n

Journal entry (2 February 1950) Once Around the Sun<\/em>, New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1951 [first edition] p. 37; online via Boston Public Library & Open Library [free subscription service] openlibrary.org<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1524268228936-f3c1178c-bda7″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>[Journal entry, February 1950. Atkinson is referencing American \u2018Groundhog Day.\u2019]:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe myth is very old, indeed. Ancient Egyptians thought that bears were weather prophets; Europeans, wolves; English, otters. The early English settlers in America substituted the groundhog for the otter. People everywhere enjoy believing things that they know are not true. It spares them the ordeal of thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for what they know.<\/span>\u201d (p. 37)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1524268229018-9f0b186a-1f01″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – Once Around the Sun<\/em> (1951) Open Library [free subscription service] & Internet Archive: https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/oncearoundsun00atki#page\/36\/mode\/2up<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1524268229188-4384cf08-7370″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cThe most fatal illusion is the settled point of view.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Brooks Atkinson<\/strong>, American journalist & theater critic<\/p>\n

Journal entry (30 April 1950) Once Around the Sun<\/em>, New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1951 [first edition] p. 115; online via Boston Public Library & Open Library [free subscription service] openlibrary.org<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1524268229280-73b5713c-8f79″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> [Journal entry, April 1950]:<\/p>\n

“To reject life is to build walls and construct a graveyard for the mind and spirit. To be lacking in perception and understanding is to die. To raise abstract intellectual barriers against creation and love is to be already dead in spirit. Aristocracies commit suicide, for they live by illusions. The most fatal illusion is the settled point of view.<\/span>” (p. 115)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1524268229380-0e47f247-ea8e”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – Once Around the Sun<\/em> (1951) Open Library [free subscription service] & Internet Archive: https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/oncearoundsun00atki#page\/114\/mode\/2up<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1524268500468-1f68dc00-71fe”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cT<\/strong>he virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Brooks Atkinson<\/strong>, American journalist & theater critic<\/p>\n

Journal entry (28 August 1950) Once Around the Sun<\/em>, New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1951 [first edition] p. 248; online via Boston Public Library & Open Library [free subscription service] openlibrary.org<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1524268500568-c822b11e-c308″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> [Journal entry, August 1950]:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking <\/span>\u2013 looking speculatively at faces in the street, raffish corners of the water front, clouds above the sky line, reflections on the water, shadows across the buildings \u2013 restoring to visible beauty the million things that have been lost and forgotten or discarded.\u201d (p. 248)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1524268500662-e167cfea-5e25″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – Once Around the Sun<\/em> (1951) Open Library [free subscription service] & Internet Archive: https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/oncearoundsun00atki#page\/248\/mode\/2up<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1524268500902-4b63b891-457a”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cThose who rule are like you and me. It is a frightening situation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Brooks Atkinson<\/strong>, American journalist & theater critic<\/p>\n

Journal entry (27 January 1950) Once Around the Sun<\/em>, New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1951 [first edition] p. 27; online via Boston Public Library & Open Library [free subscription service] openlibrary.org<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1524268501016-fad3e98e-592b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>[Journal entry, January 1950. Atkinson is reflecting on the fallibility of elected officials, including the President of the United States]:<\/p>\n

\u201cAlas, he is as you and I \u2013 fallible and bewildered. No one can solve the affairs of the world. Those that are known are incredibly complicated and interdependent \u2013 the political, economic, scientific, human, and spiritual all entangled and interwoven. Pluck at one thread, and other threads appear; one knot leads to another. But many of the problems of the worlds are not even known. Although the President is advised by experts, the experts are fallible, too, lacking information on vital problems in their own fields. In a dynamic world nothing is final.<\/p>\n

We need supermen to rule us \u2013 the job is so vast and the need for wise judgment is so urgent. But, alas, there are no supermen. Those who rule us are like you and me. It is a frightening situation<\/span>.\u201d (p. 27)<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1524268501156-8f48afd3-4e5e”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – Once Around the Sun<\/em> (1951) Open Library [free subscription service] & Internet Archive: https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/oncearoundsun00atki#page\/26\/mode\/2up<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n

Resources<\/h4>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” el_class=”Wrapper-Author-Resources”]Learn more about Brooks Atkinson<\/strong><\/span> | Here are a few good places to start –<\/p>\n