A Quote by Wallace Stevens

On a few words of what is real in the world
I nourish myself. I defend myself against
Whatever remains. — © Wallace Stevens
On a few words of what is real in the world I nourish myself. I defend myself against Whatever remains.
I don't measure myself against my coaches, I don't measure myself against my teammates. If I'm doing jiu-jitsu for sport, I don't measure myself against the guy I'm rolling with or whatever belt he is or how many stripes he has on his belt. I measure myself every day against the guy I was yesterday.
I’m fighting for my life, I have to defend myself. If I don’t defend myself, no one else will.
How can I defend myself against what I want?
I started to read James Baldwin very early on in my life. At a time, as a young adult in the Sixties, when there were not that many authors in whom I could recognize myself, he was an important guide and mentor to me as he was to many others. He helped me understand who I was and decipher the world around me. He gave me the words to defend myself and the argumentative rhetoric to master discussions with others.
I learned how to defend myself at the OSB, not physically but with words.
When I have struggled with things like being Bruce Lee's daughter, it's his words that have guided me: his words that said that I just need to have faith in myself, believe in myself, and express myself.
Unfortunately, I have dedicated great effort to the task of compiling this ‘sensitive words glossary,’ and I have mastered my filtering skills. I knew which words and sentences had to be cut, and I accepted the cutting as if that was the way it should be. In fact, I will often take it on myself to save time and cut a few words. I call this ‘castrated writing’ - I am a proactive eunuch, I have already castrated myself before the surgeon raises his scalpel.
When I left home at sixteen I bought a small rug. It was my roll-up world. Whatever room, whatever temporary place I had, I unrolled the rug. It was a map of myself. Invisible to others, but held in the rug, were all the places I had stayed - for a few weeks, for a few months. On the first night anywhere new I liked to lie in bed and look at the rug to remind myself that I had what I needed even though what I had was so little. Sometimes you have to live in precarious and temporary places. Unsuitable places. Wrong places. Sometimes the safe place won’t help you.
I recognized that I needed to re-train my brain to stop eating like I wanted to punish myself or punish someone else. I needed to re-learn how to eat like I loved myself, and want to nourish and support myself.
I still pinch myself, I'm touring with Cormega you know what I'm saying, a few years ago I'd be sitting in my room doing whatever and listening to Cormega's albums on repeat and knowing all the words.
As a human, I am flawed in that it is difficult for me to consider others before myself. It feels like I have to fight against this force, this current within me that, more often than not, wants to avoid serious issues and please myself, buy things for myself, feed myself, entertain myself, and all of that.
So when it comes to being a role model to women, I think it's because of the way that I feel about myself, and the way that I treat myself. I am a woman, I treat myself with respect and I love myself, and I think that if I'm holding myself to a certain esteem and keeping it real with myself, then that's going to translate to people like me.
By rubbing up against the world, I define myself to myself.
When someone abuses me I can defend myself, but against praise I am defenceless.
From Finding the Center to Reading and Writing: A Personal Account, the story remains the same: in a journey unique to myself, I left my worthless home, with its small people, and I sailed against the tides of chance and history looking for a better place -- for the center -- where I suffered greatly and made myself into a great writer.
I want to challenge myself and test myself against the best players in the world, and there are not many people better than the likes of Ronaldo.
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