Get Inspired – Best Inspirational Quotes
Here is a video I made of best inspirational quotes. Hope they inspire you. More at www.allgreatquotes.com The music is a piece by Bach played on guitar. Video produced by www.themediapro.com
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SUMMARY: Robert Oppenheimer (April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) American theoretical physicist, father of the atomic bomb
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Also called the “Father of the Atomic Bomb,” J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American physicist. A brilliant man, he is known by most as the director of the Manhattan project, which worked to develop the country’s first nuclear weapons at a classified laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Early life and education
Julius Robert Oppenheimer was born in New York City on April 22, 1904, the son of wealthy Jewish parents.
He attended the Ethical Culture Society School (which later named their physics laboratory after him) and went on to Harvard in 1922. His original plan was to become a chemist, but he soon changed to physics. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard in 1925 at the age of 21, but his education was far from over.
Upon graduation from Harvard, Oppenheimer went to England and began research at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory. In 1926, when he was just 22 years old, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Gottingen. Over the course of his studies, he published a number of essays on the quantum theory. In 1927, he went back to Harvard as a National Research Council Fellow to study mathematical physics. Then in 1928, he went to the California Institute of Technology. At the same time, he became an assistant professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley.
Contributions to science
Oppenheimer made a number of important contributions to mathematics and physics over the course of his life. He was considered a founding father of theoretical physics, but also did research and developed new theories in astrophysics, nuclear physics, spectroscopy, and quantum field theory. His work with cosmic ray showers led to better understanding of quantum tunneling, and it was Oppenheimer who first suggested that black holes existed after publishing a paper on them in the 1930s.
Work with the atomic bomb
When World War II began, Oppenheimer was already a prominent and well-known physicist. He was already involved in the development of an atomic bomb at Berkeley, and was offered the position as the scientific director of the Manhattan project by General Leslie Groves in 1942. From there, the labs in Los Alamos, New Mexico were created and Oppenheimer became responsible for not only gathering other brilliant scientists to help him develop the atomic bomb, but also manage over 3,000 people who were working on the project as well. For this reason, he was often referred to as the father of the atomic bomb.
When the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer was said to be shocked by the force and sheer killing power of the bombs.
Post war work
After World War II, Oppenheimer became the Chairman of the General Advisory Committee to the Atomic Energy Commission and served in this capacity from 1947 to 1952. While Chairman, he was strongly opposed to the development of a hydrogen bomb. Then in 1953, he was accused of having communist ties and had his security clearance taken away by the Atomic Energy Commission. Their decision was not well-received, even by President Johnson, who awarded Oppenheimer the Atomic Energy Commission’s prestigious Enrico Fermi Award in 1963.
Family life
Oppenheimer married Katherine Harrison in 1940, and together they had two children, Peter, born in 1941, and Katherine, born in 1944. He died of throat cancer in 1967.
SUMMARY: Robert Louis Stevenson (November 13, 1850 – December 3, 1894) Scotland novelist, poet, travel writer
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Robert Louis Stevenson was a diverse Scottish writer who authored a number of books, essays, poems, and children’s books. He is best known for such action books such as Treasure Island and Kidnapped.
Early life and education
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born November 13, 1850, in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of a prominent lighthouse engineer. As a child, Stevenson had tuberculosis and weakened lungs as a result.
When he was 17, he began college to study engineering, like his father. However, he soon determined that engineering was not something he was interested in. His father took him on a sea voyage, presumably to help him become interested in lighthouses. However, the voyage inspired him to want to write adventures about the coast and islands and instead decided to pursue a career in literature. His father eventually allowed this, but made him get a law degree too. He passed the bar exam at the age of 25.
Travels
After college, he began to travel abroad to find a climate that would agree better with his condition. He wrote about his travels in some of his earlier writings, including An Inland Voyage in 1878 and Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes in 1879.
In 1876, Stevenson met his wife in France. However, she was married at the time. She returned to California a few months later, and he followed her. In 1879 he traveled from New York to California, where he met up with and married his wife Frances Obsourne, who was divorced by this time. He spent the last five years of his life in Samoa, before dying in Samoa in December of 1894.
Writing
Stevenson was a diverse author and wrote a wide range of things, from poems to children’s books to novels. He is perhaps most famous for his adventure novels and stories, many of which include shipwrecks, stolen inheritances, and other such excitement. In 1883 Treasure Island was published, about a young boy who travels with pirates in search of buried treasure. In 1886, both The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Kidnapped were published, then The Black Arrow in 1888 and the Master of the Ballantrae in 1889. These were his most famous adventure stories.
He also wrote essays and criticisms, which were also very well-received. These include Virginibus Puerisque (1881), Familiar Studies of Men and Books (1882), and Memories and Portraits (1887). In addition to this, he wrote a number of travel pieces based on his own adventures and travels. These include The Silverado Squatters (1883), which recounts his visit to a mining camp in California, as well as Across the Plains (1892) and In the South Seas (1896).
In addition to this, he also wrote poetry for children. A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885) is perhaps his most famous, even today. Other poetry collections include Underwoods (1887) and Ballads (1890). He also wrote a number of short stories that were published in his books The New Arabian Nights (1882) and Island Nights’ Entertainments (1893).
Stevenson’s stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, was also a writer. Together, the two collaborated and wrote the novels The Wrong Box (1891) and The Wrecker (1892).
Robert Louis Stevenson was a gifted writer who authored a wide range of books, poems, and literary works that are still enjoyed today.
SUMMARY: Robert Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) American poet
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One of the best known poets of all time, Robert Frost is studied in classrooms across the world for his poignant poetry, often involving nature. The following is information about Robert Frost’s life and poetry.
Life and education
Robert Lee Frost, who was named after the Civil War general Robert E. Lee, was born March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California. Both parents were teachers, exposing him from an early age to literature and famous poets such as Shakespeare and Wordsworth.
His poetry career started at a young age as well, publishing poems in his school paper as young as 16. He graduated at the top of his class and went on to begin his college career at Dartmouth in 1892. However, he decided college life wasn’t for him and took odd jobs, from teaching to laboring, while writing poetry.
At the height of his career, Frost experienced a great deal of loss. His four children were married and he spent a great deal of time with his children and grandchildren within a period of a few years. His daughter Marjorie died in 1934 after the birth of her first child. In 1938, his wife died of a heart attack. Two years later, in 1940, his son Carol committed suicide.
Robert Frost died January 29, 1963, in Boston. He was buried in his family’s plot in Vermont.
Poetry career
Although he began writing poems from a young age, he got his break when, in 1894, Independent, a magazine based in New York, published his poem, “My Butterfly: An Elegy,” for which he was paid $15.
In 1911, Frost, his wife Elinor, and their four children moved to England. In 1913, Frost got his big break when his first collection of poetry, A Boy’s Will, was published. Two years later in 1915, it was printed in America. The collection was a great success, in part from the promotion and support of other famous poets of the time, including Henry Holt and Ezra Pound.
In 1915, Frost and his family moved back to the United States to a farm in New Hampshire. Not long after, Frost published a book of poetry called Mountain Interval and began touring for his fans.
Many of Frost’s poems were written in nature and about nature on the various farms he lived in throughout his life. In 1920 he purchased Stone House in Vermont and continued writing successful poetry. It was here where he wrote most of the poems published in his fourth collection of poetry, which won him the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923. Included in this collection was perhaps his most famous poem, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.
Frost won numerous awards for his collections of poetry, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1923, as well as again in 1931 for Collected Poems, in 1937 for A Further Range, as well as in 1943 for A Witness Tree. He also spoke at the inauguration of President John F Kennedy on January 20, 1961, where he recited his poem The Gift Outright.
Frost’s collections of poetry are numerous and include West Running Brook (1928), Collected Poems (1930), A Further Range (1936), Collected Poems (1939, again) A Witness Tree (1942), A Masque of Reason (play, 1945), Steeple Bush (1947), A Masque of Mercy (another play, 1947), Complete Poems (1949), and In the Clearing (1962).
Robert Frost was an American poet who wrote many well-known poems that are still revered today.
SUMMARY: Robert Browning (May 7, 1812–December 12, 1889) British poet, playwright
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When studying famous poets, the name of British poet Robert Browning is sure to be mentioned. He wrote a number of famous works throughout his life.
Life and poetry of Robert Browning
Born May 7,1812, in Camberwall, England (close to London), Robert Browning was the son of an accomplished pianist and a clerk at the Bank of England. From an early age, Robert Browning was exposed to literature and poetry. His father was an avid reader and very well read, and had a library of over 6000 books and volumes.
Robert Browning himself was also well-read and very educated, mostly as a result of his family. An avid reader as well, Robert was also gifted in his studies and learned Latin, Greek, French, and Italian by the time he was fourteen years old. In 1828, at the age of 16, he attended the University of London but dropped out soon after to study what he wanted at his own pace.
As a writer, Browning began with writing verses for stage after meeting William Macready, an actor on British stage. Browning began writing dramatic monologues. He received good reviews of his monologue Paracelsus, written in 1935, and much poorer reviews for Sordello, written in 1840. Many critics complained that his references and meanings were much too obscure to be understood and enjoyed.
Browning married fellow British poet Elizabeth Barrett after reading some of her poems and sending her a letter declaring his love for her and desire to meet her in 1844. They courted via letters until they eventually married in 1846, when she was 38 years old and he was 34, and later eloped to Italy. Together, they had a son, named Robert and nicknamed Pen, in 1849.
Their union and love for each other was the inspiration for a number of both of their poems, although Elizabeth was the more popular of the two poets at the time. He dedicated his collection of works Men and Women, which is said to hold his best works, to her in She also wrote a number of poems to him in her famous Sonnets from the Portuguese.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning died in 1861, and it wasn’t until a few years after that that Robert’s work became much more well-known and successful and he became more widely known as a poet. Some of the works he wrote around this time included Dramatis Personae (1864), The Ring and the Book, a poem consisting of 21,000 lines, Balaustion’s Adventure (1871), Fifine At The Fair (1872), Red Cotton Night-Cap Country (1873), including The Inn Album (1875) and Pacchiarotto and How He Worked in Distemper (1876), Certain People of Importance in Their Day (1887), and the anthology The Agamemnon of Aeschylus (1877). Asolando: Fancies and Facts (1889) was actually published the same day he died.
Browning’s popularity as a poet was evident with the 1881 founding of the Robert Browning Society, developed by fans in England and the US.
Robert Browning died on December 12, 1889, in Italy in his son’s house. He wanted to be buried by Elizabeth in Florence, but the cemetery wasn’t taking new burials at the time. Instead, he is buried in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey, London, England, not far from Lord Alfred Tennyson.
Robert Browning was a famous British poet known for his dramatic monologues and his love for his wife, fellow poet Emily Barrett Browning.
SUMMARY: Joseph Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) American mythology professor, writer, and orator
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Joseph John Campbell was best known as an American mythology professor, writer, and orator. He became renowned for his work in the fields of comparative mythology and religion.
On March 26, 1904, Joseph John Campbell was born in White Plains, NY. Joe, as he came to be known, was the first child of a Roman Catholic couple, Charles and Josephine Campbell. Joe’s earliest years appear to be largely unremarkable; but then, when he was seven years old, his father took him and his younger brother, Charlie, to see Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. This evening would be a high-point in Joe’s life; for, although the cowboys were clearly the show’s stars, as Joe would later write, he “became fascinated, seized, obsessed, by the figure of a naked American Indian with his ear to the ground, a bow and arrow in his hand, and a look of special knowledge in his eyes.”
Joseph Campbell became consumed with Native American culture; and his world view was arguably shaped by the dynamic tension between the faith of his forebears and his newfound appreciation and knowledge of the Native American culture. Joe had read every book on American Indians in the children’s section of his local library by the age of 10 and was admitted to the adult stacks, where he eventually read the entire multi-volume Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology. He immersed himself in every aspect of the culture he had grown to love and began frequenting the American Museum of Natural History, where he became fascinated with totem poles and masks, thus beginning a lifelong exploration of that museum’s vast collection.
Joe’s mother enrolled him at Canterbury, a Catholic residential school in New Milford CT. His high school years were rich and rewarding, even though they marked by a major tragedy: in 1919, the Campbell home was consumed by a fire that killed his grandmother and destroyed all of the family’s possessions. Joe graduated from Canterbury in 1921, and the following September, entered Dartmouth College. He was soon disillusioned with the social scene and disappointed by a lack of academic rigor, so he transferred to Columbia University, where he excelled. He specialized in medieval literature, played in a jazz band, and became a star runner. After earning a B.A. from Columbia (1925), and receiving an M.A. (1927) for his work in Arthurian Studies, Joe was awarded a Proudfit Traveling Fellowship to continue his studies at the University of Paris (1927-28). After he then received and rejected an offer to teach at his high school alma mater his Fellowship was renewed, and he traveled to Germany to resume his studies at the University of Munich (1928-29). While in Germany he became familiar with the modernists who whose art and insights would greatly influence his own work.
After Joe returned from Europe he was at a crossroads as to what he should do. Few teaching positions were open during the Great Depression. He spent the next two years reconnecting with his family and making journal entries. Then, late in 1931, after rejecting the possibility of a doctoral program or teaching job at Columbia, he decided, like countless young men before and since, to “hit the road,” to undertake a cross-country journey to perhaps discover the purpose of his life. It was during this odyssey that his writing career began in earnest. He continued to write to some seventy colleges in attempt to secure employment and was finally offered a position at Canterbury School. After an unhappy year there in 1933, he moved to a cottage without running water on Maverick Road in Woodstock NY, where he spent a year reading and writing. In 1934, he was offered and did accept a position in the literature department at Sarah Lawrence College, a post he would retain for thirty-eight years. He would retire from Sarah Lawrence in 1972 to devote himself full-time to his writing.
In 1938 he married Jean Erdman, one of his students who would become a major presence in the emerging field of modern dance, first, as a star dancer in Martha Graham’s fledgling troupe, and later, as dancer/choreographer of her own company.
But his many writings notwithstanding, it was arguably as a public speaker that Joe had his greatest popular impact. From his first public lecture in 1940 it was apparent that he was an erudite but accessible lecturer, a gifted storyteller. In 1956, he was invited to speak at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute where working without notes, he delivered two straight days of lectures. His talks were so universally well-received, he was invited back annually for the next seventeen years. He would remain a highly popular and sought after speaker for many years.
Joseph Campbell died at the age of 83 on October 30, 1987, at his home in Honolulu, Hawaii, from complications due to esophageal cancer with his wife Jean at his side.
SUMMARY: James Thurber (December 8, 1894–November 2, 1961) American humorist and cartoonist.
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James Grover Thurber was born on December 8, 1894 in Columbus, Ohio. His father, Charles L. Thurber, was a clerk and minor politician, who went through many periods of unemployment. Mary Thurber, his mother, was a strong-minded woman and a practical joker. He became known as both a humorist and cartoonist throughout the United States. Thurber was best known for his contributions (both cartoons and short stories) that often appeared in The New Yorker magazine.
When his brother William shot an arrow at him Thurber was partially blinded by the childhood accident. Since he was unable to participate in games and sports with other children, he developed a rich fantasy life, which found its outlet in his writings. Thurber began writing during his years at secondary school. Due to his poor eyesight, he was exempt from serving in World War I, but instead studied between 1913 and 1918 at Ohio State University. He also worked as a code clerk in Washington, D.C. and at the United States embassy in Paris. In the early 1920s he began his career as a journalist while working for several newspapers. He also wrote for the Chicago Tribune while living in Paris.
Thurber married Althea Adams in 1922. The marriage was unhappy most of the time and ended in divorce in 1935. After moving to New York City in 1926 Thurber joined Harold Ross’s newly established The New Yorker, where he found his clear, concise precise style.
Thurber worked hard throughout the 1920s, both in the United States and in France, to establish himself as a professional writer. He became unique among major American literary figures, for his simple, surrealistic drawings and cartoons. Both his writing and drawing skills were helped along by the support of, and collaboration with, fellow New Yorker staff member E. B. White. It was White who insisted that Thurber’s sketches could stand on their own as artistic expressions which prompted Thurber to go on to draw six covers and numerous classic illustrations for the New Yorker.
Until the 1930’s he was able to sketch out his cartoons in the usual fashion but then his failing eyesight later required him to draw them on very large sheets of paper using a thick black crayon (also, on black paper using white chalk, from which they were photographed and the colors reversed for publication). Regardless of whatever method, he used his cartoons became as notable as his writings; they possessed an eerie, wobbly feel that seems to mirror Thurber’s idiosyncratic view on life. The last drawing Thurber was able to complete was a self-portrait done in yellow crayon on black paper, which appeared on the cover of the July 9, 1951, edition of Time Magazine.
Thurber eventually married again and had one daughter. In his later years he lived with his wife Helen Wismer, who was a magazine editor, from West Cornwall, Connecticut. He suffered greatly from alcoholism and depression, but Helen’s devoted nursing enabled him to maintain his literary production. Thurber died of a blood clot on the brain on November 2, 1961, in New York at the age of 67.
A list of his works includes:
• Is Sex Necessary? Or, Why You Feel the Way You Do, 1929
• The Owl in the Attic and Other Perplexities, 1931
• The Seal in the Bedroom and Other Predicaments, 1932
• My Life and Hard Times, 1933
• The Middle-Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze, 1935
• Let Your Mind Alone! and Other More Or Less Inspirational Pieces, 1937
• The Last Flower, 1939
• The Male Animal (stage play), 1939 (with Elliot Nugent)
• Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated, 1940
• My World–and Welcome To It, 1942
• Many Moons, (children) 1943
• Men, Women, and Dogs, 1943
• The Great Quillow, (children) 1944
• The Thurber Carnival (anthology), 1945,
• The White Deer, (children) 1945
• The Beast in Me and Other Animals, 1948
• The 13 Clocks, (children) 1950
• The Thurber Album, 1952
• Thurber Country, 1953
• Thurber’s Dogs, 1955
• Further Fables For Our Time, 1956
• The Wonderful O, (children) 1957
• Alarms and Diversions (anthology), 1957
• The Years With Ross, 1959
• A Thurber Carnival (stage play), 1960
• Lanterns and Lances, 1961
SUMMARY: Malcolm Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) publisher of Forbes magazine, founded by his father B.C. Forbes and today run by his son Steve Forbes.
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Many people know of Forbes Magazine and the millions of dollars in revenue it generates a year. Most people know of Steve Forbes, the son of the late Malcolm Forbes. Those who do know of Malcolm Forbes knew of his lavish 70th birthday party in Morocco or knew of his successes as the publisher for Forbes magazine for 33 years. Forbes was also a less than successful politician for New Jersey. However despite his successes, it was his lavish lifestyle that caught the attention of many people.
Early Life
Malcolm Forbes was born in New York City on August 19, 1919 to Scottish immigrant, B.C. Forbes. B.C. Forbes founded Forbes magazine in 1917. Malcolm Forbes grew up in New Jersey with 4 brothers. He attended Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He graduated in 1941 with his Bachelor of Arts degree. Shortly after, he joined the U.S. Army and was wounded shortly before the Battle of the Buldge. He was awarded the Purple Heart and a bronze star for demonstrating initiative, alert action and resourcefulness.
Political Career
Forbes returned home from the Army with an honorable discharge and began work for his father at Forbes magazine. He married Roberta Remsen Laidlaw in 1941; the two were married for 39 years before they eventually divorced. In 1951, Forbes began his political career, being voted into the New Jersey State Senate. He also ran for the Governor of New Jersey in 1957, but was defeated. He remained in the Senate until 1958.
Forbes Magazine
In 1954, Malcolm was named Editor and Publisher of Forbes magazine after the death of his father, B.C. Forbes. In 1964, he acquired sole ownership of the company with the passing of his brother, Bruce Charles Forbes. The death of his family members left Forbes with a rich inheritance. Forbes also obtained millions by dabbling in real estate sales and other ventures.
The Party Life
Forbes was often seen with Elizabeth Taylor, but consistently denied rumors of a relationship. In 1973, Forbes became the first person to fly across America in a hot air balloon. To recognize this accomplishment, President Ford awarded him the Harmon Trophy in 1975. In 1974, Forbes was named to the Board of Directors for the Balloon Federation of America. In 1975, he became a member of the Board of Directors for the National Aeronautic Association and later was elected Executive Vice President.
Forbes earned the nickname “the happiest millionaire” for his flamboyant lifestyle and lavish parties. Forbes was a constant fixture at NYC’s famous “Cat Club” on Wednesday nights. Later in life Forbes became a motorcycle fan and invested in several Harley Davidson motorcycles. He founded the motorcycle club, The Capalitist Tools. Forbes estate in New Jersey was also a regular meeting spot for motorcycle conventions. Many know of his gift, Purple Passion a Harley-Davidson, to Elizabeth Taylor. In 1999 he was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
The Last Party
Malcolm Forbes last birthday party was thrown in Morocco in September 1989, for his 70th birthday. This was perhaps one of the most lavish parties ever thrown and those who were not invited surely knew what they missed. In 1990, Forbes died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Far Hills, New Jersey. Shortly after his death, an article by OutWeek covered his life, “The Secret Life of Malcolm Forbes”. In the article written by Michelangelo Signorile, he “outed” Forbes as a gay man.
Forbes was a respected individual by George Bush and Ronald Reagan. In fact, they both said he was a “dear friend, who would be greatly missed.” Forbes time with the publishing world has inspired business leaders across America. Forbes legacy on the publishing, political and “party world” will remain a fragment of history that greatly impacted the United States.
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