'Thou Mayest'

"The Hebrew word timshel — ‘Thou mayest’ — that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’ — it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.’ ... But ‘Thou mayest’! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth ... he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win.”

Taken from the novel 'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck, this quote has become one of my favorite literary references. For me it encompasses one of the greater themes of life: one's ability to choose. Spoken by Jehovah to Adam, and then again to Cain in the Old Testament, the poetic nature of the word that is 'Timshel' is what I have decided to entitle this blog. It is a reminder to myself and to everyone of how the power has been invested in each of us to not merely dream but to live them.