There are so many great lines in this movie, but I think the D.H. Lawrence quote got me: “The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic – and a killer.”

Lawrence was an Englishman – and this should be taken in the context of his time: The late 1800′s to 1930. But I think the instinct survives today. Of course I’m a foreigner too so what the hell do I know.

Speaking of great mainstream movies that steal from great literature, here’s another that you’ve head a thousand times:

From “Self Pity” by Lawrence:

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A bird will fall frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.

When I see a disabled dog in Marymoor park playing like it doesn’t matter I think of this poem … and sometimes when I’ve pulled a 12 hour day and got another 5 to go.

Poetry and Writing’s ability to inspire is quite amazing. Which is why I’m so glad the writers strike is now resolved and the architects of our culture got a raise.