Inspirations
Giorgione, The Three Philosophers, c. 1506
A Riddle
Dear Mr. Ticonderoga
It has never really crossed my mind
How very important are you and your kind.
But looking about this industrious class,
It is evident your impressions last.
While my ideas flow from your silver tip,
I wonder why you never flip.
Rolled, tapped, and even chewed!
It’s quite appalling and very rude.
From now on, I solemnly swear
To treat you with the utmost care.
And even though you’re #2,
I’ll still appreciate all that you do.
Scroll down to find out who Mr. Ticonderoga is, and to read past riddles.
It has never really crossed my mind
How very important are you and your kind.
But looking about this industrious class,
It is evident your impressions last.
While my ideas flow from your silver tip,
I wonder why you never flip.
Rolled, tapped, and even chewed!
It’s quite appalling and very rude.
From now on, I solemnly swear
To treat you with the utmost care.
And even though you’re #2,
I’ll still appreciate all that you do.
Scroll down to find out who Mr. Ticonderoga is, and to read past riddles.
|
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” -Albert Einstein WOULDA-COULDA-SHOULDA All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas Layin’ in the sun, Talkin’ ‘bout the things They woulda-coulda-shoulda done… But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas All ran away and hid From one little did. -Shel Silverstein, Falling Up 
Albrecht Dürer, St Jerome in his Study, 1514 “All of us love to do the things that we do well... but if you never try to do things that are hard for you, then you will never understand and believe that you can overcome things that are hard for you. And so I say, if you love math, do more reading and writing; if you love reading and writing, do more math. Challenge yourself every day, and you're going to be better for it." -Condoleezza Rice |
“The strongest people in the world are not those most protected: They are the ones who must struggle against adversity and obstacles and surmount them to survive.” -Robert L. Woodson Sr. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before you hold all the evidence. It biases the judgement.” -Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle “Discovery consists of seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought.” -Albert Szent-Györgyi 
Carl Larsson, Correspondence, 1912 “I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it." -Vincent Van Gogh |
The Lyme Brain’s Refrain, or At the Cupboard What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I, what am I, what am I doing? I’m doing something – something I’m doing – But what am I, what am I, what am I doing? What am I doing? Where am I going? Why am I here, and why am I not knowing? Knowing I’m doing and somewhere I’m going, But where I am going I’ve no way of knowing. Where am I going? When am I knowing? Tomorrow or Tuesday or when it starts snowing? When it starts snowing I’ll know where I’m going, But ‘til it starts snowing, to go without knowing? When am I knowing? Who am I seeing? Was what I was doing a seeing or being? Or finding or looking or thinking or fleeing? Or am I now seeing my looking for being? Looking for being, Finding for doing, Tomorrow and Tuesday and fleeing and shooing… Was one of these being the thing I was doing? Or was it an – Oh! That’s what I was doing. -Jack DesBois Uncle Gard's Wisdom: “If at first you don't succeed, try reading the directions." “Always do your bit, and a little bit more." “Take more of the blame and less of the credit." -Gardner L. Bent (1923-2018) |
Past Riddles
|
O Little Bear! O Greenyfinch!
O Snowflake, Little Swan! The fire's on the mountain, And the day is nearly gone. Come home, come home, your master calls, Now, down the mountain go: Your little mistress needs your milk To sweetly, strongly grow. |
O Little Swan! O Greenyfinch!
Snowflake and Little Bear! You've grazed all day the mountain herbs And drunk the mountain air, And now your little mistress waits, And rosy gleams the snow: Come down and give your rich, white milk To make your mistress grow. Your frothy, warm, sweet nectar milk Will heal your mistress so! |
In what classic work of children's literature will you meet Little Bear, Little Swan, Greenfinch and Snowflake?
(Scroll down to find the answer.)
(Scroll down to find the answer.)
|
THIS thimble-thief
Has ground to grief Many a mighty poem, |
No wiser for
The learned lore He nibbles, tome by tome-- |
But though he'll munch
My words for lunch, He never eats his own. |
(Scroll down to find the answer.)
Answers to the Riddles
“Dear Mr. Ticonderoga"
Answer: Mr. Ticonderoga is, of course, the ubiquitous yellow No. 2 pencil, manufactured by the Dixon Ticonderoga Company. Leo wrote this poem when he was in the seventh grade.
Answer: Mr. Ticonderoga is, of course, the ubiquitous yellow No. 2 pencil, manufactured by the Dixon Ticonderoga Company. Leo wrote this poem when he was in the seventh grade.
“O Little Bear!..."
Answer: Little Bear, Little Swan, Greenfinch and Snowflake are names of the goats in Johanna Spyri's 1881 novel Heidi. High in the Swiss Alps, where white snowfields last all year long and glow red in the evening sunlight, Heidi's grandfather raises her on the goats' nourishing milk.
Answer: Little Bear, Little Swan, Greenfinch and Snowflake are names of the goats in Johanna Spyri's 1881 novel Heidi. High in the Swiss Alps, where white snowfields last all year long and glow red in the evening sunlight, Heidi's grandfather raises her on the goats' nourishing milk.
Heidi, illustration by Jessie Willcox Smith
“This thimble thief..."
Answer: A bookworm. This riddle is loosely adapted from an anonymous Old English riddle, copied ca. 975 in the Exeter Book.
Answer: A bookworm. This riddle is loosely adapted from an anonymous Old English riddle, copied ca. 975 in the Exeter Book.
