Tag Archives: Rod Serling

The Souls of Charity

A short story about Charity Hospital New Orleans and its aftermath from Katrina

Prologue

NOLA. Its spirit stays with you long after you’ve gone. The sights, smells, music and culture all linger, sometimes even after one’s memories fade. Those thoughts, dreams, even nightmares can embody your neighbor’s flesh and blood even when that neighbor passed away long ago. Caution: Some photos may be too unnerving or unsettling for some viewers.

A little history . . .

Charity Hospital of New Orleans, LA has long been the medical headquarters for many patients. Some of whom, it is said, never left. If that is so, how many souls stayed behind after the hospital permanently closed? What of them? When alive they endured many horrific events with Hurricane Katrina. Many a sane person would have gone crazy during those times, not able to rid themselves of the nightmarish memories they must still have.

I wonder, do souls have nightmares? Do they wander around aimlessly and body-less seeking answers? Do they seek revenge of some sort? Do they yearn to inhabit other living or dead bodies to continue life anew?

Seems like this would be the stuff of an episode right out of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone. While interesting to ponder, the hospital sat empty and abandoned for a long time without anything being done to recessitate it. A surreal set of circumstances led to its demise and only in New Orleans could an old, empty hospital reemerge as a haven for lost souls. Spirits, ghosts, whatever you like all need a place to gather, a place to call home. In NOLA’s Charity Hospital, they evidently found it.

But the story doesn’t end here; it merely continues. To what end, you may ask. Well, we don’t know . . . yet.

Chapter One

It was a dark and gloomy night in the French Quarter so we thought we’d stroll down a few blocks and see some old buildings. We eventually got to the section of Tulane Avenue where one of the oldest abandoned buildings in the area has sat empty for decades-Charity Hospital New Orleans.

Staring up at the 1939 built 20-story Art Deco building, one gets a feeling that the intimidating structure is not too keen on the idea of letting visitors inside its hallowed halls.

Nevertheless we marched slowly but steadily onward to see what had been left behind when it was evacuated because of Katrina in 2005.

In a word, not much. Yet there was a lot that remained. Indeed, some rooms we passed looked like time itself had died that horrific day. Other rooms appeared as if the patient had hardly gotten out of the room before the flood waters rushed in. And then there was the Autopsy Room.

The turn-of-the-century flooded autopsy theatre in the basement of Charity Hospital. Reddit.com
“Administration” Photo by Michael Alford

We drew closer not believing what we thought we saw. The patient appeared to be the only “living” creature in the room. Then suddenly one of the “surgeons” unexpectedly looked up and floated in our direction. It was obvious that he/she/it wanted us out of the room – NOW! We didn’t hesitate except for me; I felt like my shoes were glued to the floor. I kinda shook it off a bit and yelled “we’re going, we’re going!”

“And the Sky was Grey” by Michael Alford

As if these images didn’t make for an uneasy feeling in us, we made our way down this one hallway to see what more could be observed. That’s when we heard it; a soft, eerie-sounding voice whispering “Get out. Leave us alone. We don’t want you here.”

We all just froze. At first we didn’t know what to do or say, if anything. Finally, someone in our group said simply, “Let’s proceed anyway. I’m not going to let a strange voice scare me outta here.”

Well, we continued on, this time ascending two more floors. Alas, it was just as bad and desolate as downstairs. Some rooms appeared as if a bomb had gone off. Others looked like they had only recently been vacated. 

Photo: Abandoned Southeast
Abandoned Southeast Photo (If one didn’t know any better, one might think that Housekeeping was running horribly late.)

Proceeding down the hallway we came to what appeared to be an operating room. As we peered inside we could see the patient on the table surrounded by ghost-like figures all dressed in surgical gowns.

Back in the hallway we all were grasping for breath and, yes, looking like we’d just seen a ghost! But before we had a chance to recover, approaching from the other end of the hallway were various other ghostly figures heading our way.

Adobe Stock

Upon seeing this, we wasted no time in locating the nearest stairwell and ran up, I don’t know, what seemed like several flights of stairs. We came out and were grasping for breath. At this point someone just spouted “to hell with the research, let’s get the hell outta here.”

“Okay, everyone, calm down. We’ve just had the wits scared out of us. If this were Halloween, it would be funny. C’mon, let’s proceed down this hallway and . . . “.

Chapter Two

Just then low screams came from a few doors down. When we got there we witnessed a shadowy figure sitting on the bedside with an ax and a pool of blood clearly visible on the floor with a severed hand laying in the blood.

“Oh my God,” blurted Selma. “Somebody do something! He’ll bleed to death,” she said.

“What makes you think he’s alive?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s not. He’s been that way for decades,” says a voice emanating from a nearby chair on the far side of the room.

This time, this ghost appeared more visible than his counterparts before. His features were distinctive but his body had an iridescent glow to it. He was there and yet he wasn’t.

“Excuse me, sir. Do you know this person?,” I asked. “Yes,” said the ghost. “He was my brother, Warren. He died years ago,” stated the ghost.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said I. “By the way, I’m Joe, this is Selma, Thad and Fred. We’re just exploring the hospital before it gets torn down. We honestly didn’t expect to come into contact with anyone here. But we have; at least we think we have,” I stated.

“My name is Walter. I died some years ago, too. As for meeting folks here, you have indeed come in contact with them. If they’ve seemed to be a little skiddish, they are. They’re not used to visitors especially when the hospital closed some years ago. Everyone in New Orleans thought Charity had been completely evacuated; alas, it was not, as you have seen.

“Oh sure,” Walter continued. “Every body was taken out of Charity but some of those died before being taken out. Those souls decided to stay and remain with the friends they had made while here.”

“So what about you, Walter?,” I asked. “Well,” he started, “I kinda look after this place and my friends. We’re not leaving as we have no place to go. Our families have accepted our deaths and have moved on. Why would we want to go back after all these years and disturb their peace? No sir, not gonna do it!,” Walter stated flatly.

When we reconvened out in the hallway we thought about what to do next.

We all thought it best to leave then so we began toward the stairwell. As we started our descent, we could hear in the distance jazz music from the downstairs coffee shop where a jazz quartet played . . . decades ago. All would be dead by now.

Chapter Three

As Selma led the way and was making the turn on that flat “transition” area between floors, she was startled by the sudden appearance of a cloud-like image swinging an ax and, in the blink of an eye, thrusting it into the mid-section of Selma’s body.

As soon as it began it was over, with the image disappearing into and through the wall. Selma was writhing in pain lying down in a pool of blood grasping for breath. There was little we could do. In moments she would be dead.

Walking down fifteen flights of stairs in a building without power or air conditioning is taxing enough. When you add on carrying a dead body under these conditions it makes for a grueling exercise.

The remaining three of us just knelt there beside Selma, all stunned and in shock. Before we knew it, Fred jumped up, hysterical, and screamed, “I’ve got to get out of here; we’re not wanted!”

With that, he jumped up and proceeded to run downstairs, from the fifteenth floor, but seemed to trip as he was rounding the corner of the stairwell, broke through the railing and fell to the lobby and to his death.

Thad and I exchanged horrified looks and just remained there, motionless and not saying a word.

Chapter Four

Then I stated as calmly as I could, “Ok, let’s proceed together, steadily down the stairs to the lobby. It’s just the two of us now, Thad; there’s nothing more we can do here.”

“But what about Selma? We can’t just leave her here; she deserves better.,” Thad remarked.

“You’re right, Thad, she does,” I injected. So we both picked her up as gently as we could and proceeded resuming our trek downstairs. I suggested we take a moment’s break on the tenth floor to gather ourselves.

We reached the tenth floor and rested some. We were both sweating profusely but had nothing to wipe the sweat from our burning eyes.

Almost there we thought. Adrenaline had started to kick in and traversing the next five flights wasn’t nearly so difficult as we suspected it would be.

We each winked at one another and allowed a wry smile on our faces; we were close to getting out of here. We then took a few more steps then stopped. Froze. We heard something that sounded like crackling wood. Before either one of us could say anything, the floor of the stairwell began to give and in a flash both Thad and Selma’s body fell the remaining five floors. If she was still alive she wouldn’t have survived the drop. Thad wouldn’t have either.

Chapter Five

So now it was just me. Five floors to the lobby and exit. I was shaking so badly I could hardly stand. I managed to steady myself as best I could and slowly, holding onto the railing, got down to the second floor but I had to stop once more to catch my breath.

A few more steps and I’m home free, I thought. When I got to the landing area between first and second floors I just stopped again and thought about what we’d just accomplished. Just a few more steps . . . And then from behind I felt the unnerving sensation of being pushed. Before I knew it I was head over heels tumbling downward and unceremoniously heading for the first floor.

For what had to be only a few seconds, it felt like I was tumbling through infinity. Then, suddenly, I felt motionless, I wasn’t falling anymore. I guess I was laying on the concrete floor but I didn’t feel a thing. Didn’t even feel my heart pumping. My breathing? Don’t think I was. My mind was slowing down, now almost to a standstill.

Is this what it’s like when . . . you’re. . . dying . . .

A final thought to my story. Four new souls entered Charity Hospital to see what happened inside thanks to a wicked woman named Katrina. During their journey they met some very interesting residents, all of whom called Charity home. Never mind that the hospital has been closed for decades and that there are no living residents inside. As there have been since Katrina there are now only souls, the souls of Charity.

Epilogue

The historic Charity Hospital building in New Orleans is undergoing a massive $600+ million redevelopment with Tulane University serving as the anchor tenant and become the heart of Tulane’s Downtown Medical School. The iconic New Orleans hospital served the community for a century as the City’s safety-net hospital, saving hundreds of thousands of lives and training thousands of doctors and nurses. Old Charity will become the flagship building for Tulane’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, as well as housing for biomedical research labs, Tulane’s Innovation Institute and their School of Professional Advancement. The revitalized structure is expected to open around 2027.

The project is moving forward through a complex, years-long journey to revitalize the 90-year-old, 20-story structure that has been largely vacant since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 

  • The Vision: The billion-square-foot facility is being renovated to include state-of-the-art medical and life-science labs, approximately 300 apartments, commercial offices, and retail space. 
  • Tulane University’s Role: Tulane has committed to occupying at least 500,000 square feet of the massive building for public health, biomedical research, and teaching purposes. 
  • Funding and Politics: The redevelopment faced a major political battle when the New Orleans City Council allocated $20 million in bond/trust funds to help speed up the construction. Mayor LaToya Cantrell previously vetoed this ordinance out of concern for other city budget priorities, but the City Council successfully voted to override the veto to keep the project on.

Hurricane Katrina flooded Charity’s basement, shutting down the hospital and trapping roughly 360 patients and 1,200 staff members inside. Weeks later, a team of volunteers, contractors and the military cleaned out the lower floors to get the hospital “medical ready,” but it would never reopen.

For a closer look at how this monumental structure is being reimagined, you can explore the Charity Hospital Redevelopment Project or read about Tulane’s plans on the Charity Redevelopment page. 

The 90-year-old, 20-story Charity Hospital building that has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. (Photo by Lance Traweek.)

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

More stories can be read at https://ideasnmore.net/short-stories

Another Take on Dachaus, Auschwitz: Why does it still matter?

This is not my typical blog post but an expression of an idea I had based on an old Twilight Zone episode. I turned it into a short story, sort of reminiscent of a half hour TZ episode.

Mr. Collins was on a guided tour at Dachau. While touring one of the deserted barracks, Mr. Collins wanted to lie down on one of the bunks in the dilapidated and abandoned barracks and fell asleep. When he awakened he heard loud and nasty instructions to rise for exercises. The voice said it was a balmy 5 degrees below zero. Judging from the sight of the soldiers’ uniforms and the others around him, it was no longer present day. It was 1941 all over again. It was like he was experiencing a Twilight Zone moment.

View of the Dachau concentration camp, after liberation on April 29, 1945. It shows the electrified barbed wire fence, the moat, and a watchtower. 

Mr. Collins was dazed at first, having just been suddenly awakened. Once he was able to stand by his bunk, he noticed his clothes had been transformed into the prison attire like everyone else’s. He thought he was dreaming at first; no, more like having a nightmare.

Before he could gather his thoughts, the group was ushered through the door and outside into the bitter cold. Once outside standing in the snow and ice, he thought how in the world could anyone survive in conditions like this, especially without any protective clothing. As he thought it, he had already answered his own question; they can’t. They really weren’t expected to survive.

Several of his “colleagues” did not. They passed out during this so-called exercise routine. Dropped dead.

While standing there, Mr. Collins had lost feeling in his feet and his fingers were turning blue. He didn’t know how much more of this torture he could stand.

View of barracks and the ammunition factory in one of the first photos of the Dachau concentration camp. Dachau, Germany, March or April 1933.


Dachau opened in Germany in March 1933. It was the first regular concentration camp of the Nazi regime. Prisoners were subjected to horrific conditions, forced labor, and medical experiments. Dachau became the model for all Nazi concentration camps. It was liberated by American forces on April 29, 1945.

At what seemed to be forever, the group was finally lead back into the barracks. No heat and no warm clothing. The prisoners just had to make do. Just then another Nazi official entered the barracks and announced that two of the group did not survive exercises. So, two of the bunks would be available. However, there were three additional prisoners expected any minute so an additional bunk would have to be made ready.

“Mr. Collins,” the official stated, peering directly into Collins’ eyes, “your bunk will do nicely.”

“But where will I sleep?,” asked Collins. “Oh, you’ll have a permanent resting place,” replied the Nazi as he pulled out his Walther P38 pistol. Everything then appeared to be in slow motion.

As he pointed the P38 at Mr. Collins, the trigger seemed to take forever to be pulled back. Just at the instant of the bullet exploding from the barrel, Mr. Collins let out a blood curdling scream.

Then, all fell silent.

“Mr. Collins! Mr. Collins!,” a young woman’s voice was heard directly over Mr. Collins’ face. “Wake up, sir,” she said. “You fell asleep during our tour. Please follow us and we’ll lead you to the exit and the awaiting tour bus,” she explained.

Collins, meanwhile, was shaking even though he realized his nightmare was just that, a nightmare. Before he began to walk out, he looked down and was relieved to see he was wearing his clothes in which he’d started the tour. His nightmare was over.

Little remained of what he had dreamt. Interestingly, however, no one seemed to notice the Walther P38 lying on the mattress where Collins had been. Smoke was still emanating from the barrel.

All over the world, Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Shoah. It was established by Germans in 1940, in the suburbs of Oswiecim, a Polish city that was annexed to the Third Reich by the Nazis. Its name was changed to Auschwitz, which also became the name of Konzentrationslager Auschwitz.
The direct reason for the establishment of the camp was the fact that mass arrests of Poles were increasing beyond the capacity of existing “local” prisons. The first transport of Poles reached KL Auschwitz from Tarnów prison on June 14, 1940. Initially, Auschwitz was to be one more concentration camp of the type that the Nazis had been setting up since the early 1930s. It functioned in this role throughout its existence, even when, beginning in 1942, it also became the largest of the extermination centers where the “Endlösung der Judenfrage” (the final solution to the Jewish question – the Nazi plan to murder European Jews) was carried out.

At the end of the Twilight Zone episode, Deathshead Revisited, the doctor exclaims “why do they let it remain standing?”

In Serling’s epilogue narration, he says “There is an answer to the doctor’s question. All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes; all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all, their conscience. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers. Something to dwell on and to remember, not only in the Twilight Zone but wherever men walk God’s Earth.”

More stories can be read at https://ideasnmore.net/short-stories

Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday, Dad!

“Christmas is more than barging up and down department store aisles and pushing people out of the way. Christmas is another thing finer than that. Richer, finer, truer, and it should come with patience and love, charity, compassion.” — Rod Serling

Today is my Dad’s birthday. He left us when he was 72 back in 1978. I miss him. I miss my family, most of whom have passed on from when I knew them growing up. He would agree with Mr. Serling and the quotes above and below. Dad was a quiet man; even tempered. Like my Uncle June, a true gentleman.

Mom, Dad, Grandmother (Maw) 1976

Rod Serling was another man I admired and respected. As a writer, I’ve looked to Rod as a sort of mentor, always conscientious as to what I put down in words. I always strive to be insightful, imaginative and entertaining, just as Rod did. Alas, we lost him in 1975, the year I graduated from college. when he was only 50. The words and messages he brought forth then are just as powerful and meaningful today. Dad would definitely approve.

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, Daddy and long live Rod Serling!!

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

I’m Back with New Quotes

It’s been awhile since quotes have been featured on this blog and since various sayings by interesting people are not going away I thought it time to have quotes resurface. So . . .

Creativity is no longer about grabbing attention or raising consumer awareness. Its goal is to remind consumers about what is fundamental and gratifying about a brand. — Peter A. Georgescu, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Attract attention, maintain interest, create desire and get action. — E. Elmo St. Lewis, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Regardless of the moral issue, dishonesty in advertising has proved very unprofitable. — Leo Burnett, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom while discouragement often nips it at the bud. — Alex Osborn, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Never write an advertisement which you wouldn’t want your family to read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them to mine. — David Ogilvy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

I have come up with something that I think is a bizarre and novel method of execution. One designed to challenge your talents. — Twilight Zone’s “The Jeopardy Room” by Rod Serling stars Martin Landau and John van Dreelen.

Every area of trouble gives out a ray of hope, and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable. — John E. Kennedy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Meetings are all too often the burial grounds of great ideas. — Keith Reinhard, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than with the imagination being awake? – Leonardo da Vinci

Today’s marketplace is cluttered with products that are no better and no worse than their competitors. — Phil Dusenberry, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out various creative selections from ideasnmore.net.

Jolan tru!

Spring into Spring with These Quotes

Creativity can be found in some surprising places. From advertising and computer science to art and statistics. It’s what we do with it that matters. Below are various quotes from different people expressing a feeling or an observation about how creativity has impacted them in some way, directly and indirectly. Enjoy the quotes for March as we spring into Spring.

Play by the rules, but be ferocious. — Phil Knight, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Many persons have an idea that one cannot be in business and lead an upright life, whereas the truth is that no one succeeds in business to any great extent, who misleads or misrepresents. — John Wanamaker, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

To me, mathematics, computer science, and the arts are insanely related. They’re all creative expressions. – Sebastian Thrun

I have learned that trying to guess what the boss or the client wants is the most debilitating of all influences in the creation of good advertising. — Leo Burnett, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

We pay just as dearly for our triumphs as we do for our defeats. Go ahead and fail. But fail with wit, fail with grace, fail with style. A mediocre failure is as insufferable as a mediocre success. — Bruce Barton, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. — John C. Maxwell

Be a voice, not an echo. — Anonymous

Advertising, to be successful, must understand or anticipate basic human needs and wants and interpret available goods and services in terms of their want-satisfying abilities. This is the very opposite of manipulation. — Charles H. Sandage, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Consumers are statistics. Customers are people. — Stanley Marcus, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

No moral, no message, no prophetic tract, just a simple statement of fact: For civilization to survive, the human race has to remain civilized. ~ Rod Serling

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from ideasnmore.net.

Jolan tru!

Special Quotes and a Christmas Gift, too

This being the week before Christmas I thought it appropriate to present some special quotes for this month and to end the list with a Christmas thought. Season’s Greetings and Happy Holidays!

Neither wisdom nor good will is now dominant. Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality. – Jonas Salk

Some questions don’t have answers, which is a terribly difficult lesson to learn. — Katharine Graham, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

I want to put a ding in the universe. – Steve Jobs

Let’s gear our advertising to sell goods, but let’s recognize also that advertising has a broad social responsibility. — Leo Burnett, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else’s advertising. — David Ogilvy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

The heart of creativity is discipline. — William Bernbach, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Like the musical score, a mission statement is only as good as the performance it inspires. — Keith Reinhard, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information. — David Ogilvy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

In writing advertising it must always be kept in mind that the customer often knows more about the goods than the advertising writers because they have had experience in buying them, and any seeming deception in a statement is costly, not only in the expense of the advertising but in the detrimental effect produced upon the customer, who believes she has been misled. — John Wanamaker, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Christmas is more than barging up and down department store aisles and pushing people out of the way. Christmas is another thing finer than that. Richer, finer, truer, and it should come with patience and love, charity, compassion. ~ Rod Serling

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from my website.

Jolan tru!

From Rod Serling to Frank Lloyd Wright

Here they are again, quotes for November this time. As usual they represent a variety of viewpoints from various folks, some better known than others. Enjoy!

 

The writer’s role is to menace the public’s conscience. He must have a position, a point of view. He must see the arts as a vehicle of social criticism and he must focus on the issues of his time. — Rod Serling

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance. — Bruce Barton, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Advertising promotes that divine discontent which makes people strive to improve their economic status. — Ralph Starr Butler, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Brands that keep us invisible to appease anti-LGBTQ activists … are missing a future generation of consumers and employees who demand that brands include LGBTQ people and other diverse communities in authentic and organic ways. — Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD’s president and CEO, as quoted by MediaPost Communications

It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a new one. — Alex Osborne, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Violence does not spring from a vacuum. It’s born out of other men’s violence. It gets nurtured and it grows in a soil of prejudice and of hate and of bigotry. ~Rod Serling

Fun without sell gets nowhere, but sell without fun tends to become obnoxious. — Leo Burnett, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

An important idea not communicated persuasively is like having no idea at all. — William Bernbach, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

When we are too timid to risk failure, we reduce the opportunities to succeed. And we eliminate the chance to learn. — Keith Reinhard, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

An idea is salvation by imagination. – Frank Lloyd Wright

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from my website.

Jolan tru!

Here Comes Fall, and October’s Quotes

Well, another month has gone by and as we await the arrival of Fall, weather-wise, here in the Southern States, let me present the Halloween month’s array of quotes. October showcases its share of genius and, hopefully, awe-inspiring thoughts from a variety of well known, and not-so-well known folks. It’s still a good read, though!

 

Chaos is the only thing that honestly wants you to grow. The only friend who really helps you be creative. — Dan Wieden, member Advertising Hall of Fame

This is what I learned at Antioch-when something was wrong, I could get up on my own two feet and make comment on it… I think the idea of questioning is not only a right, it is a responsibility. ~ Rod Serling

Advertising is what you do when you can’t go see somebody. That’s all it is. — Fairfax Cone, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance. — Bruce Barton, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. – Søren Kierkegaard

It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a new one. — Alex Osborne, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

The heart of creativity is discipline. — William Bernbach, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit. – Elbert Hubbard

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. – Robert F. Kennedy

Do not allow your mind to be imprisoned by majority thinking. Remember that the limits of science are not the limits of imagination. – Patricia Bath

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from my website.

Jolan tru!

September’s Quotes

Because we’re starting a new month, I thought I’d change things up a bit. Hence, submitting this month’s quotes at the beginning of the month. As per usual, this post, along with others forthcoming in this blog, center around some aspect of creativity.

 

Everything is reduced to facts and figures but the things that count. — George Gallup, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Creativity is no longer about grabbing attention or raising consumer awareness. Its goal is to remind consumers about what is fundamental and gratifying about a brand. — Peter A. Georgescu, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Every area of trouble gives out a ray of hope, and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable. — John E. Kennedy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

When we so cheapen the concept of human life that we can be permissive to the occasional bomb or bullet, I think we’ve taken a giant step back into the Dark Ages. And I don’t think there’s a light at the end of that tunnel. ~ Rod Serling

There is a cult of ignorance in the US, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ,y ignorance is just as good as your knowledge. — Isaac Asimov

Advertising becomes a dialogue that becomes an invitation to a relationship. — Lester Wunderman, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

A deadline is negative inspiration. Still,it’s better than no inspiration at all. – Rita Mae Brown

Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there. – Richard Feynman

The only means of strengthening one’s intelligence is to make up one’s mind about nothing —to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts. – John Keats

I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would grow up to be an eggplant. – Ursula K. Le Guin

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from my website.

Jolan tru!

Quotes by Ogilvy, Voltaire, Jobs, et. al.

As it’s the last Tuesday in July and since I accidentally skipped June, I thought it time for Quotes. From Bernbach and Barton to Serling and Steinem . . . enjoy!

 

Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity — not as a threat. – Steve Jobs

We pay just as dearly for our triumphs as we do for our defeats. Go ahead and fail. But fail with wit, fail with grace, fail with style. A mediocre failure is as insufferable as a mediocre success. — Bruce Barton, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

The heart of creativity is discipline. — William Bernbach, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else’s advertising. — David Ogilvy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers. – Voltaire

Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument an exchange of ignorance. – Robert Quillen

Consumers are statistics. Customers are people. — Stanley Marcus, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. – Gloria Steinem

The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope. – Henry Ward Beecher

I think that the singular evil of our time is prejudice. It is from this evil that all other evils grow and multiply. In almost everything I’ve written there is a thread of this: a man’s seemingly palpable need to dislike someone other than himself. — Rod Serling, LA Times, 1967

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from my website.

Jolan tru!