In the process of moving, I’ve come upon a small number of scraps of paper that give me pause, and I wonder whether I’ll keep the paper or consign it to recycling.  I’ve said some intolerably short goodbyes to some very old and dignified friends.  Adieu. 

The sequence with which I discover the scraps is, to my surprise, the most consistently important factor shaping my decision.  If the scrap is part of an interesting series, I’ll keep it.  Here is an example of a series of two…and I’m still waiting for the third.

“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” (Emerson). 

“It is provided in the essence of things that from any fruition of success, no matter what, shall come forth something to make a greater struggle necessary” (Whitman).