Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing. –William James, American Philosopher and Psychologist, 1842-1910
With twin boys, you’d best have a sense of humor and some common sense too, don’t you think? But do any of the rest of you sometimes worry that good old common sense has walked out the door? Common sense doesn’t seem so common anymore. But then I went out hunting some common sense quotes and what do I find but this quote, “Common sense is not so common” by Voltaire, a famous French philosopher and writer who lived 1694-1778.
So do you think every generation thinks the next generation has lost their grasp on practical common sense?
I didn’t stop with one quote. I kept finding more like these about common sense.
- Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius. — George Bernard Shaw
- Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done. –C.E. Stowe (Harriet Beecher Stowe’s son)
- Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes. –Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet and Essayist, 1803-1882
My favorite is the one I put at the top of the post – the idea of common sense dancing. That might be because I’m not much of a dancer when it comes to moving my feet to the music. About the only place I can dance is in my head. Hmm, could be I would have had trouble if I had been one of the Shakers. Then again stumbling over my feet in the worship dances might have been the least of my problems with being a Shaker.
That’s true for Darcie too in my latest Shaker book, The Refuge. Dancing wasn’t much of a worry at all once she knew she was going to have a baby, especially since she was excused from the dancing during the Sunday worship times. She did learn some of the dance steps in the practice sessions the Shakers had in the family houses.
The Shakers were joyful in worship and they practiced common sense in their work, whatever they were doing. They found the best and most efficient ways to get their tasks done while at the same time doing that work the very best that they could. You might wonder about their common sense in some other aspects of their beliefs, but no one could deny they knew how to work. It was certainly true that many of the Shakers’ neighbors thought they lacked common sense in how they lived and how they worshiped. But even so, those outside the villages admired and bought their products. Darcie had those same kind of mixed feelings about the Shakers in my story. Right now The Refuge is still on e-book sale for 99 cents or less. So if you haven’t read Darcie’s story, you can grab it now for less than a dollar. If you’re interested, you can find buy links here.
I’m doing research and working to flesh out some new characters. Not Shakers, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one or another of my characters ended up doing a jig before the story is over. I’m pretty sure my main character will have an abundant supply of common sense although she might drift off into dreamland at times. Isn’t that the way most of us are? Sensible at times. Not so sensible at others. But then if we can keep smiling in spite of stumbles we make, maybe that’s just our common sense coming on scene to do a little dancing and remind us that nobody’s perfect.
Do you sometimes think you have some good old common sense but everybody else seems to have lost theirs? Do you like it when the characters in the stories you read act sensibly? Except maybe when love makes them do something crazy?
Comments 6
It’s true that common sense has flown out the window with some people. And sometimes it seems the smarter they get, the less common sense they have. My grandpa used to say, “he’s educated beyond his intelligence!”
Mountain folks, especially in the olden days, might not have had a lot of formal education, but they sure were wise people!
I’m looking forward to going back to the mountains in your next book!
Author
I love that, Lavon. “He’s educated beyond his intelligence.” I’m going to have to use that in my next story. 🙂 Because once again I’m heading to the mountains where life wisdom often trumps book learning.
My daddy always said I had a whole lot of book sense. Still doesn’t seem like such a bad thing to me – given that scriptures are in a book. 😁
And I STILL think of Darcie from The Refuge, even a week after finishing it!!
I read Eric portions of your post and he said he seems to think common sense is what we know we should do, but don’t do. So do the thing that you don’t want to do first and you’ll be all right.
Thanks for sharing, Ann.
Author
Book sense is very good, Kristy. Especially combined with some good old fashioned common sense.
I’m not sure I totally agree with Eric about common sense being to do what we know we should do but don’t do. That seems to be more simply having the courage to do the right thing whatever the cost. That can certainly be a problem at times because a lot of things we should do are hard to do or take more energy than we want to expend or make us worry about what others might think.
But to me, common sense is more just looking at whatever the issue might be and doing what makes the most sense. Such as perhaps correcting a small child who does something that is now considered politically incorrect but not making such a big deal out of it that the kid feels like a criminal. Or something like if you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones or let your kids play baseball in the front yard. 🙂 Do what makes sense from the experience you’ve gathered through the years or that you learned from your parents or those who have gone along this trail before you.
You’re so sweet to still be carrying Darcie around in your thoughts. I’m trying hard to pull a new character to live in my head for a while. I have her name but I keep getting waylaid by where to set her down in KY. Hope your writing is going well.
Are you possibly writing a sequel to Healing Hills? I just finished it and I’d love to find out what happens to Fran and Ben.
Author
I went back to the mountains for my story that comes out next summer and focus on Frontier Nursing history, but it’s not a sequel to These Healing Hills. It’s set in the 1930s. I wouldn’t mind writing more about Fran and Ben and Sarge too. Thank you for reading my first mountain story, Julie.