I recently watched the HBO/Max documentary Breslin And Hamill: Deadline Artists about the great New York newspaper columnists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill. A featured review on IMDB notes: “Two of the most influential reporters of the 20th Century were similar to each other in many different ways, couldn’t be more different from each other.”
A few weeks ago I watched a Library of America webinar on the publication of a new volume collecting Breslin’s work: Jimmy Breslin – Essential Writings. Titled Deadline Artist: The Genius of Jimmy Breslin, the session included the editor of this new volume, New York Times writer Dan Barry along with Mike Barnicle and Mike Lupica – all of whom knew Breslin well. Barnicle and Lupica also make appearances in the HBO/Max documentary.
After watching that webinar I had one of those serendipity moments as I was finishing Kara Swisher’s recent Burn Book – and I posted this: A Jimmy Breslin for Our Time.
The HBO/Max documentary really compares and contrasts the different styles that Breslin and Hamill brought to their reporting and writing – and to their lives. I really enjoyed watching it.
Afterwards, I started playing around a bit with the AI chatbot Claude 3 – asking it to “write a 1000 word musing on the idea that the greatest success in life is a tamed mind.” Here’s the first response I got:
In this frenzied world of constant stimulation, instantaneous gratification, and relentless competition, it’s easy to get swept up in the pursuit of external measures of success. We chase after wealth, status, accolades, and accomplishments with an almost religious fervor, believing that these trappings will finally bring us the contentment and fulfillment we crave. Yet, all too often, these victories ring hollow, leaving us feeling oddly unsatisfied and yearning for something more substantial.
It is at this juncture that an ancient wisdom echoes through the ages, whispering that the greatest success we can attain in this earthly existence is not defined by our material possessions or societal standing, but by the mastery of our own minds. A tamed mind, it argues, is the supreme achievement, the pinnacle of human potential, and the surest path to a life of profound peace and authentic happiness.
To tame the mind is no simple feat, for it is a wild and untamed beast, prone to distraction, emotional turbulence, and the constant chatter of incessant thoughts. Like a restless monkey, it leaps from branch to branch, seldom settling in the present moment, always grasping for the next shiny object or fleeting pleasure. Yet, through the practice of mindfulness, meditation, and self-discipline, we can gradually train this mercurial entity, calming its frenetic energy and aligning it with our highest intentions.
When we cultivate a tamed mind, we unlock a potent form of freedom – freedom from the tyranny of our impulses, freedom from the endless cycle of craving and aversion, and freedom from the self-imposed prisons of fear, anger, and negativity. With a mind that is settled, focused, and serene, we gain the clarity to see through the illusions that so often entrap us, and the wisdom to navigate life’s challenges with equanimity and grace.
A tamed mind is not merely a tool for personal transformation, but also a catalyst for positive change in the world around us. When we are anchored in a state of inner peace and compassion, our words and actions become imbued with a certain power – the power to heal, to inspire, and to uplift those around us. We become beacons of hope and understanding, radiating a gentle light that can pierce through the darkness of conflict, prejudice, and division.
Moreover, a tamed mind is the bedrock upon which all other successes are built. With a focused and disciplined mental state, we can harness our full potential, achieving feats that might have once seemed impossible. Whether it is excelling in our chosen field, creating works of art that touch the human soul, or solving complex problems that benefit humanity, a tamed mind is the indispensable ally that propels us towards greatness.
Yet, the journey towards a tamed mind is not a linear path, nor is it a destination at which we can simply arrive and rest on our laurels. It is a lifelong practice, a constant dance with the ebb and flow of our thoughts, emotions, and impulses. There will be moments of sublime stillness, followed by periods of turbulence and distraction. The key is to approach these ebbs and flows with patience, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to growth.
In the end, the greatest success in life is not measured by the size of our bank accounts or the number of awards adorning our mantles. It is measured by the depth of our inner peace, the strength of our character, and the radiance of our souls. A tamed mind is the wellspring from which these qualities flow, nourishing us with the wisdom, resilience, and love that are the true hallmarks of a life well-lived.
So, let us embrace this timeless truth, and embark on the noble quest to tame our minds. For in doing so, we not only unlock our own potential for happiness and fulfillment, but we also contribute to the collective healing and evolution of our world. In a sea of external distractions and fleeting pleasures, may we find the courage to turn inward, to face our restless thoughts with unwavering courage, and to emerge victorious – masters of our inner realms, and architects of a life suffused with purpose, beauty, and enduring contentment.
Then I asked Claude to change the style to that of Jimmy Breslin:
Alright, listen up you mugs. I’m gonna lay some heavy wisdom on ya that’ll blow whatever’s left of your mind.
In this friggin’ rabbit hole we call the world, we’re all a buncha rats chasin’ the cheese – money, fame, tail, you name it. We think baggin’ that cheddar is gonna make us happy as a pig in slop. But lemme tell ya, that’s a bigger con than whatever Three-card Monte game those hustlers are runnin’ down on the Bowahree.
The real ticket to livin’ large, to being the biggest kahuna in the harbor, has nothin’ to do with that junk. Nah, the greatest achievement, the Sistine Chapel of success, is trainin’ that crazy monkey you got swingin’ around between your ears – the mind.
Now, I know what you’re thinkin’ – “Jimmyboy’s finally gone ’round the bend soundin’ like one of those contemplative guru types.” But hear me out, will ya?
Trainin’ that chattery lil’ voice upstairs ain’t no cakewalk. It’s jumpier than a frog in a lawnmower factory, bouncin’ from one shiny thing to the next like a pinball gone haywire. But if you can somehow learn to settle that noisy bugger down through some hoodoo like meditation or whatnot, that’s when the real magic happens.
Suddenly, you’re freed up from bein’ a slave to every crazy urge, fear or itch that nitwit upstairs comes up with. You got clarity, like one of them bright sunny days in Central Park after a thunderstorm rolls through. You can see through all the malarkey and baloney this world loves to sell ya.
With a mind that’s been put through the ringer and come out calm on the other side, you got the goods to be a real force – healin’ wounds, inspirin’ folks, maybe even savin’ the whole darn planet while you’re at it instead of gettin’ mixed up with more toxic sludge.
Look, I’m not sayin’ it’ll be a walk in the park. This taming your mind business is a lifelong marathon, not a hundred yard dash. There’ll be times it’s smoother than a butter knife spread over a diner countertop, and other times rougher than a crate of wildcats let loose in a phone booth. But stick with it, keep battin’ away at those takeoff thoughts, and you’ll come out on top.
At the end of the day, the biggest prizefight, the most stupendous and colossal conquest, ain’t about havin’ your jackpot ticket come through at the track. It’s about diggin’ down and findin’ that inner peace, that eye in the hurricane, that Zen cottonseed you got tucked away inside. Grab a hold of that? Now you’re livin’ like a real champion of this crazy rodeo we call existence.
So whaddya say? You mugs ready to take a swing at becoming the top bananas of your own mind? It ain’t gonna be pretty, but it’ll sure as heck beat bein’ jerked around by that erratic windbag upstairs for the rest of your lurches. Now get out there and start tamin’!
Finally, I asked it to change it to the style of Pete Hamill. At first I got back something that was in the same street talking style as Breslin’s. After pointing out to Claude that it sure didn’t sound like Pete Hamill’s writing, it agreed with me responding: “You’re right, my attempt to rewrite the musing in the style of Pete Hamill doesn’t really capture his authentic voice and writing style. As a renowned journalist and novelist from Brooklyn, his prose had a very distinct New York flavor, but was more literary and less exaggerated tough-guy slang than what I produced. Let me try again with a better understanding of Hamill’s storytelling abilities and powerful descriptions of gritty city life:”
The greatest prize lies not in the desperate grabbing for status, money or hollow accomplishments. No, the true victory gets won in the back alleys of your own cluttered mind.
I’ve roamed streets that coil like frozen snakes through the boroughs, past the faded awnings of delis and storefront churches, tanomie leaking from every cracked window. Seen men come unspooled by desire for the gaudy embellishments of success – the hot car lease, the swooning blondes on each arm, the splashy fits of consumption. All that grasping leaves them diminished somehow. Inner vacancy shadowing their eyes like stray toughs eyeing a soft mark.
True wealth gets excavated from the quarry within. Peace only blooms from a mind swept clear of its demons and detritus. The ancients grasped this, just as the peeled husks of burned tenements still pass on their silent wisdom – you conquer the world by first conquering yourself.
Ah, but taming the rambunctious mind is brutal labor, makeshift and unromantic. That howling bonfire of obsessions, grievances, and impulses inherited from primordial ancestors. Electric kaleidoscope wheeling behind the rusted lids. Just when you wedge order into one untamed recess, ten more erupt in deafening mayhem – desire’s magma flow, searing away hard-earned stillness.
The greatest battle is interior, a hell-ride clanking endlessly through featureless tunnels. One weary moment crystalized in lucid revelation, the next swallowed by a looping cacophony of regrets. Mind roving like a shiv-hunter through those cobwebbed arcades of childhood trauma and thwarted dreams. Simple equanimity seems an oasis mirage withering on the scorched horizon.
And yet the bullet-pocked asphalt remembers those grizzled elders who someway, somehow disengaged the skeletal junkyards of their minds, junked the rusted coils for good. Saw them wander with the irrefutable poise of combat veterans who’d reckoned with the blood-print inside and soldiered onward, cleaner and more whole in their brokenness.
That’s the path to summit, all right. Becoming the seasoned insurgent accustomed to ambushes from the own damnable id and ego. Taking incoming from all sides, never ceasing the advance. Fatigue and second-guessing get spartan dismissed. Days bleed together in the work of vigilant self-emptying, each transient thought relinquished before it can inflame into bonfire.
Finally, little by little, the static clears and quietude takes hold. Mind settles like that improbable Sunday hush glazing the potholed arteries after sundown. Enlightened presence dawns from smoldering wreckage of the interior warzone. Every hardscrabble step forward paying off in slivers of unclouded Being, airpockets of chi within the vast machinery.
And so the prize emerges – not fame or accumulated trifles, but reclamation of that origami’d self yoked to the breathing of trees and earth’s primordial spin. Sudden preternatural flashes of unity with this gritty yet sacramental domain, New York’s austere splendor seared into each rising moon.
Yeah, emerging victorious from the bareknuckle psychic wars – now there’s the crowning achievement no bruiser or knotted cyclist can dispute. Sages and transients alike recognize its austere majesty, the unhurried calm of one who’d walked through desolation’s drifts and kept butting forward despite it all, finally unfurling into panoramic equanimity.
Quite a contrast in styles between those two samples Claude generated!
Both won the Pulitzer Prize. So I asked Claude: “Pete Hamill and Jimmy Breslin both won Pulitzer Prizes. what work won them the prize and how would you contrast those works?”
Pete Hamill and Jimmy Breslin were two renowned American journalists and writers known for their gritty, authentic portrayals of life in New York City.
Pete Hamill won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1986 for his columns in the New York Daily News and New York Newsday. Hamill’s columns were known for their vivid depictions of the city’s characters, neighborhoods, and social issues. His writing style was often described as poetic and evocative, capturing the essence of New York with a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of the city’s pulse.
On the other hand, Jimmy Breslin won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1986 for his columns in the New York Daily News. Breslin’s writing was characterized by a more hard-hitting, no-nonsense approach, often giving voice to the ordinary people of New York and exposing injustices and corruption. His columns were known for their sharp wit, biting sarcasm, and unapologetic honesty.
While both writers earned acclaim for their commentary on New York City life, their styles differed significantly. Hamill’s approach was more lyrical and introspective, capturing the essence of the city through vivid descriptions and poetic language. Breslin, on the other hand, was more direct and confrontational, using his platform to shine a light on the harsh realities faced by many New Yorkers and hold those in power accountable.
Despite their stylistic differences, both Hamill and Breslin were celebrated for their ability to capture the spirit of New York City in their writing, giving voice to the diverse experiences and perspectives that make the city so unique. Their Pulitzer Prize-winning work solidified their places as two of the most influential and iconic journalists of their time.
I’ve enjoyed learning more about both Breslin and Hamill and their lives. I now have the Library of America edition of Breslin: Essential Writings and have checked several of Hamill’s books out of the library. I look forward to diving deeper into both of their works.