Sonnet LXXVII
“Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear, Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste; The vacant leaves thy mind’s imprint will bear, And of this book this learning may thou taste. The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show, Of mouthed graves will give thee memory; Thou by thy dial’s shady stealth mayst know Time’s thievish progress to eternity. Look, what thy memory cannot contain, Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shalt find Those children nurs’d, deliver’d from thy brain, To take a new acquaintance of thy mind. These offices, so oft as thou wilt look, Shall profit thee, and much enrich thy book.”—Shakespeare
Those “in the know” believe this sonnet was inscribed in a book with blank leaves.
Put it at the top of your own blank page for inspiration.
Happy day after the great Shakes Day!!
Dogpatch Writers Collective 
I have that same, big, fat leatherbound Shakespeare edition. When I’m not reading it, I’m smelling the cover. Does this make me peculiar?
No, that doesn’t make you peculiar—–Other things make you peculiar. Snort! I feel like one of those old geezers sitting in the box seats, watching the Muppet Show.
Thanks for this inspiration from the master! I needed it today.
I’m wondering whether the expression, “no great shakes,” refers to Shakespeare. OR do you think it started somewhere along the San Andreas fault?
I vote for the San Andreas fault, although there are other unprintable visions that come into my mind at the term . . . 🙂
LOL, yes indeed!