So You Don't Have Time to Read...

[alfreda89]

Saw this quote over on Andrew Sullivan's web site:

"Once upon a time in the dead of winter in the Dakota Territory, Theodore Roosevelt took off in a makeshift boat down the Little Missouri River in pursuit of a couple of thieves who had stolen his prized rowboat. After several days on the river, he caught up and got the draw on them with his trusty Winchester, at which point they surrendered. Then Roosevelt set off in a borrowed wagon to haul the thieves cross-country to justice. They headed across the snow-covered wastes of the Badlands to the railhead at Dickinson, and Roosevelt walked the whole way, the entire 40 miles. It was an astonishing feat, what might be called a defining moment in Roosevelt’s eventful life. But what makes it especially memorable is that during that time, he managed to read all of Anna Karenina. I often think of that when I hear people say they haven’t time to read."

-- David McCullough

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Good for him.

[incandragon.livejournal.com]

Not too shabby for a neurotic asthmatic, eh? Weird guy, but definitely interesting!

[sheilagh.livejournal.com]

What Teddy DIDN'T have: beeping pocket watch, cell phone, Nintendo DS, facebook apps, etc etc.

He had TIME to focus... and had grown up in the habit of paying attention for stretches at a time!

;-)

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

You know, we need to do a better job of teaching our children that there's a time to concentrate. We learned how to do that -- it may be why so many electronic things annoy us. But many of them have not learned how to work in a quiet room, or just with gentler music playing.

(There's probably an app for that.... ;^) )