As you know, I like to collect quotations. Often when I am reading, I stop at a passage that speaks to me and underline it. If it’s a library book, I keep a paper bookmark where I can write down something short and simple so that when I finish the book, I can go back and record the quote in my computer Commonplace Book file.
I have been sharing my collection daily over at Thoughtful Cacophony. I hope you’ve had a chance to visit my sister blog. It’s coming along nicely.
Over the past few weeks, I have been toggling back and forth between a novel and a couple works of non-fiction. One of the books was a collection of essays from a variety of authors. The book was entitled Constructing a Life Philosophy.
This what my paper bookmark looked like after I had finished reading
pg 43 “Life’s Purpose” quote
pg 181 3rd P. “Never Think…” – blog about running w/o music
pg 205 2nd P. “I would like to say that man should live for loving, for understanding, and for creating.”
pg 206 2nd P. “True Love…”
pg 209 1st & Last P
I find that I can make little notes like this as I read and it doesn’t take away from my reading. I used to just read a book without pausing to take any notes and then I tried to go back and find a thought that stuck with me. I’d often lose it or be unable to find it again with just a cursory search. I would then have to reread the entire book or just move on. Often I did the latter and never recorded that tidbit of wisdom.
I like this system I have developed. I get to enjoy a book and take notes as I go. When I am done with it, I then comb through the book and collect my favourite passages. Sometimes these even inspire a blog post. The first passage I took from this book has already inspired a post and the second passage made me immediately think of another one. You can see my thought process there, and tomorrow you will see that blog post, “Never Think Pt 2.” Stay tuned.
3 responses to “Never Think”
I do this all the time when ever I am reading and when ever I hear people speaking and watch certian tv shows that I find interesting. And then I have a little notebook with all the quotes. And… my engineer project I got a 90% (A-) on the project and I was the only one that painted the house, and everyone thought it looked nice because I put color on the house. So talk to ya later CIAO
My memory is so bad that I have to take notes and quotes of the best bits whenever I read a non-fiction book. Otherwise I forget it all! But I’m not as organized as you are, Chase. The house is littered with post-it notes with all the quotes on…
Speaking of which, just lying here is an (approximate) quote from my current audio book, Joe Vitale’s ‘Zero Limits’: “Life began when the universe looked at itself in the mirror”. How’s that for the start of the story?
Hi Chase,
I always think I will remember those “great parts”, and then spend countless hours sifting back through a book.
I like your time saving idea. Thanks for sharing.