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Thread: Shel Silverstein

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    Default shel silverstein

    haven't seen him typed here, yet.



    wikipedia

    Shel had his own view of how his life started out:

    "When I was a kid—12, 14, around there—I would much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls. But I couldn't play ball, I couldn't dance. Luckily, the girls didn't want me; not much I could do about that. So, I started to draw and to write. I was also lucky that I didn't have anybody to copy, be impressed by. I had developed my own style, I was creating before I knew there was a Thurber, a Benchley, a Price and a Steinberg. I never saw their work till I was around 30. By the time I got to where I was attracting girls, I was already into work, and it was more important to me. Not that I wouldn't rather make love, but the work has become a habit.

    --(Jean F. Mercier. "Shel Silverstein", Publishers Weekly, February 24, 1975).

    Shel Silverstein did not really care to conform to any sort of norm, but he did want to leave his mark for others to be inspired by:

    "I would hope that people, no matter what age, would find something to identify with in my books, pick up one and experience a personal sense of discovery. That's great. But for them, not for me. I think that if you're creative person, you should just go about your business, do your work and not care about how it's received. I never read reviews because if you believe the good ones you have to believe the bad ones too. Not that I don't care about success. I do, but only because it lets me do what I want. I was always prepared for success but that means that I have to be prepared for failure too. I have an ego, I have ideas, I want to be articulate, to communicate but in my own way. People who say they create only for themselves and don't care if they are published...I hate to hear talk like that. If it's good, it's too good not to share. That's the way I feel about my work. So I'll keep on communicating, but only my way. Lots of things I won't do. I won't go on television because who am I talking to? Johnny Carson? The camera? Twenty million people I can't see? Uh-uh. And I won't give any more interviews."

    --Shel Silverstein, from Publishers Weekly, February 24, 1975

    Shel did however give a few more interviews in his life, each of which helped to contribute insight into his convoluted thinking patterns. One example of such interviews:

    Question: "Why do you have a beard?" Shel: "I don't have a beard. It's just the light; it plays funny tricks." Question: "How do you think your present image as world traveler, bawdy singer, etc. combines with your image as a writer of children's books?" Shel: "I don't think about my image." Question: "Do you admit that your songs and drawings have a certain amount of vulgarity in them?" Shel: "No, but I hope they have a certain amount of realism in them." Question: "Do you shave your head for effect or to be different, or to strike back at the long-haired styles of today? Shel: "I don't explain my head."

    --(1965) from the album "I'm So Good That I Don't Have to Brag."

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    OMG he wrote the best poetry! Where the Sidewalk Ends was one of my favorite books as a child
    It makes me so sad (and confused) that The Giving Tree is on banned book lists in some parts of the country

    (no idea what type)

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    SLI?

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    Quote Originally Posted by niffweed17
    SLI?
    sort of what i was thinking, although only a hunch. if reyn_til_runa was raised on vonnegut, this would have been my childhood influence, alongside bionicgoat. hah.

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    haha, when i saw that name as the topic I only clicked because I thought I remembered that name but couldn't figure out how I knew it. I remember reading his books sooooooooo much when I was little though.

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    I never knew he looked like he killed though


    if I had seen this picture as a child I would have had nightmares

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    I grew up on Where the Sidewalk Ends, too. He actually came to my elementary school for an assembly when I was in third grade. He wasn't nearly as freaky as those pictures make him look, .
    "How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races, the myths about dragons that at the last moment are transformed into princesses? Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love."
    -- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

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    looks sorta beta

    ILE

    those who are easily shocked.....should be shocked more often

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    Quote Originally Posted by thehotelambush
    I think INFj.
    ???

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    Quote Originally Posted by niffweed17
    Quote Originally Posted by thehotelambush
    I think INFj.
    ???
    I don't know, he looks Ij, and I see the Delta values. I haven't read his books in a while.

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    Quote Originally Posted by thehotelambush
    I think INFj.
    He even reminds me of Paulo Coelho.

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    Quote Originally Posted by eunice
    Quote Originally Posted by thehotelambush
    I think INFj.
    He even reminds me of Paulo Coelho.
    Some people think Paulo Coelho is a beta NF, have you read eleven minutes? Shel Silverstein sort of reminds me of my ISTp brother in some of the things he says but ISTp is not a type that screams at me for him for some reason.
    Socionics: XNFx
    MBTI: INFJ

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    Quote Originally Posted by eunice
    Quote Originally Posted by thehotelambush
    I think INFj.
    He even reminds me of Paulo Coelho.
    They VI similarly, but that's weird. I didn't know who he (Coelho) was, but reading about him, he seems like an Ni-quadra type:

    "there is only one thing I really treasure in a human being. You can have your fears, you can have your moments of doubt, but you can never be a coward. You have to face your fears, you have to overcome your moments of doubt, you have to believe that if you look for it there is always a solution. If you really want something, the whole universe is going to conspire to help you. But to do that, you have to be brave. Brave enough to fight for things that are meaningful to you. Not meaningful to A, B or C, but to you."
    His fascination with the spiritual quest dates back to his hippie days, when he travelled the world learning about secret societies, oriental religions, etc.
    Superficially seems Beta NF.

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    Quote Originally Posted by eunice
    Quote Originally Posted by thehotelambush
    I think INFj.
    He even reminds me of Paulo Coelho.
    They VI similarly, but that's weird. I didn't know who he (Coelho) was, but reading about him, he seems like an Ni-quadra type:

    "there is only one thing I really treasure in a human being. You can have your fears, you can have your moments of doubt, but you can never be a coward. You have to face your fears, you have to overcome your moments of doubt, you have to believe that if you look for it there is always a solution. If you really want something, the whole universe is going to conspire to help you. But to do that, you have to be brave. Brave enough to fight for things that are meaningful to you. Not meaningful to A, B or C, but to you."
    His fascination with the spiritual quest dates back to his hippie days, when he travelled the world learning about secret societies, oriental religions, etc.
    Superficially seems Beta NF.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Megan
    Quote Originally Posted by eunice
    Quote Originally Posted by thehotelambush
    I think INFj.
    He even reminds me of Paulo Coelho.
    Some people think Paulo Coelho is a beta NF, have you read eleven minutes? Shel Silverstein sort of reminds me of my ISTp brother in some of the things he says but ISTp is not a type that screams at me for him for some reason.
    would you suggest beta, then? beta/delta is the strongest "sense" i have of him at the moment. i should probably find some of his work that isn't geared towards younger audiences and post it in this thread.

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    I think that if you're creative person, you should just go about your business, do your work and not care about how it's received. I never read reviews because if you believe the good ones you have to believe the bad ones too. Not that I don't care about success. I do, but only because it lets me do what I want.
    Clearly Si > Se & Fi/Te > Fe/Fi.

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    http://shelsilverstein.tripod.com/ - maybe a bigger picture of him here.

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    Quote Originally Posted by implied
    Quote Originally Posted by Megan
    Quote Originally Posted by eunice
    Quote Originally Posted by thehotelambush
    I think INFj.
    He even reminds me of Paulo Coelho.
    Some people think Paulo Coelho is a beta NF, have you read eleven minutes? Shel Silverstein sort of reminds me of my ISTp brother in some of the things he says but ISTp is not a type that screams at me for him for some reason.
    would you suggest beta, then? beta/delta is the strongest "sense" i have of him at the moment. i should probably find some of his work that isn't geared towards younger audiences and post it in this thread.
    No, i would not suggest beta for him unlike Paulo who he looks like superficially. i am inclined (not strongly) to believe shel is delta.
    Socionics: XNFx
    MBTI: INFJ

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    hah!

    Whatif by Shel Silverstein
    Last night, while I lay thinking here,
    some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
    and pranced and partied all night long
    and sang their same old Whatif song:
    Whatif I'm dumb in school?
    Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?
    Whatif I get beat up?
    Whatif there's poison in my cup?
    Whatif I start to cry?
    Whatif I get sick and die?
    Whatif I flunk that test?
    Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
    Whatif nobody likes me?
    Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
    Whatif I don't grow talle?
    Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
    Whatif the fish won't bite?
    Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
    Whatif they start a war?
    Whatif my parents get divorced?
    Whatif the bus is late?
    Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?
    Whatif I tear my pants?
    Whatif I never learn to dance?
    Everything seems well, and then
    the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

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    Quote Originally Posted by implied
    hah!

    Whatif by Shel Silverstein
    Last night, while I lay thinking here,
    some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
    and pranced and partied all night long
    and sang their same old Whatif song:
    Whatif I'm dumb in school?
    Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?
    Whatif I get beat up?
    Whatif there's poison in my cup?
    Whatif I start to cry?
    Whatif I get sick and die?
    Whatif I flunk that test?
    Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
    Whatif nobody likes me?
    Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
    Whatif I don't grow talle?
    Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
    Whatif the fish won't bite?
    Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
    Whatif they start a war?
    Whatif my parents get divorced?
    Whatif the bus is late?
    Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?
    Whatif I tear my pants?
    Whatif I never learn to dance?
    Everything seems well, and then
    the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

    are you trying to use this poem as evidence of him being beta?

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    no, i'm not, niffweed. it just struck me as the ISXj poem. i don't always believe that what writers write is an expression of themselves as much as entertainment in general. i think if we analyzed all his poems we could pick things that relate to such and such function for just about every quadra, thus, i basically posted that for my own amusement.

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    Quote Originally Posted by implied
    no, i'm not, niffweed. it just struck me as the ISXj poem. i don't always believe that what writers write is an expression of themselves as much as entertainment in general. i think if we analyzed all his poems we could pick things that relate to such and such function for just about every quadra, thus, i basically posted that for my own amusement.

    yeah, that rings particularly true with a guy like silverstein who wrote senseless and humoristic style poems on so many different topics. this poem here is actually an excellent example of that.

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    You may say it's ridiculous, but that poem could be evidence of his not having Ne in the Super-ego. An ISxj is not likely to make fun of themselves for something like that (like an IxTp wouldn't write a poem about his social difficulties, etc.).

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    The fucking sick type. Go back and read him now: half his poems are either about suicide or have hidden (some subtly, some not) sexual content.

    And they're supposed to be for kids.


    Given: The Giving Tree is one of the best books of all time. All time. No matter what.

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