Theodor Seuss Geisel, popularly known as Dr. Seuss was an unyielding personality who witnessed
World War I & II, the death of his first wife, and never became a biological Father;but all these cruel and unfortunate predicaments never did flutter his zeal to produce entertaining books for children. Although, he is a great illustrator and cartoonist, Dr. Seuss will forever be remembered for the dedication shown to write children’s favorites with a lot of social meaning and didactic content.
5 Facts About Dr Seuss
- Stage Fright – A rather unfortunate & disastrous incident during his childhood made Geisel afraid of getting on stage till his death. He was a member of 10 Boy Scouts who were supposed to receive medals from the President Theodore Roosevelt. Geisel stood last and Roosevelt was given only 9 medals, making him think that Geisel was not to be honored and the President left. It was a social humiliation Dr. Seuss could never overcome and public appearances dreaded him.
- The right turn – More than 20 publishers rejected Dr. Seuss’ first children’s book titled “And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street”. He was returning to his apartment to incinerate the book, but fortune favored him as he met his friend & editor McClintock (who became editor the same day) on Madison Avenue. If Geisel had taken another route the world wouldn’t have known such a phenomenal writer and a great personality.
- Writer’s hats – Every writer has a peculiar way to get rid of the writer’s block preventing the pen to move even an inch. Whenever Dr. Seuss felt that his motivational levels were down, he used to enter a secret closet full of hats. He used to wear them till inspiration came back to him and no wonder hats are given prominence in his works. “The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins” is fairly regarded as his autobiographical piece as the book is studded with descriptions of hats.
- The controversy – Dr. Seuss may appear as a children’s writer, but controversies never left him and critics or politicians always found something wrong in his works. In “The Lorax” there is so much inherent criticism on people about not taking care of environment that environmentalists pounced on him for being so nosy. In opposition to “The Lorax”, Loggers produced a work called “The Truax” supporting the humanity for cutting down trees. “Yertle the Turtle” enraged certain communities because it was against the rise of power of Hitler. Anti-isolation, racial discrimination, the arms race, etc. were sensitive issues those days and writers chose not to tread in such dangerous realms. However, Dr. Seuss disregarding the controversies, wrote to entertain the kids and at the same time shown the defects of the erring adults.
- A ban on Ham – Dr. Seuss’ bestselling book “Green Eggs and Ham” was considered to have elements of early Marxism and there was a ban on the book till 1991 (the year of Seuss’ death). Fascinatingly, the book was produced as a reaction to a bet with the terms of the book to be completed with usage of 50 words.
Interestingly, the “good doctor” was never a doctor. To gain some credibility for his works during college, he added, “doctor” before Seuss and it was also a reaction to his father’s desire to see his son being awarded a doctorate. The man who respected children and inspired imagination for generations lived the life he loved deserve the title “doctor”. His inspiration can be still seen in many cartoons, movies, ads, etc. Dr. Seuss is a perfect example of living the dreams without having to worry about other things much.
Graduation, Success and Life Quotes
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…
Read. Travel. Read. Ask. Read. Learn. Read. Connect. Read
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.
And will you succeed? Yes you will indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
Oh the things you can find, if you don’t stay behind!
Why fit in when you were born to stand out?
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
You have brains in your head,you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose
Kid, you’ll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way!
Young cat, if you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you would learn! The most wonderful stuff!
I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent.
If you have a brain in your head and feet in your shoes, you can steer youeself in any direction you choose.
If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good!
Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.
Today is your day Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way.
I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
It’s a troublesome world. All the people who’re in it are troubled with troubles almost every minute. You ought to be thankful, a whole heaping lot,for the places and people you’re lucky you’re not.
