Notable quotes, excerpts, and profound lines. - Page 176

BenG · 08-23-2015, 07:28 PM

As for literary criticism in general: I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel or a play or a poem is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae or a banana split.

― Kurt Vonnegut, Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage

AlexBell · 08-24-2015, 02:51 AM

and I can assure any young author who may ever read this that he need feel no remorse, no misgiving about conceit or obstinacy, if he finds it impossible to work so well upon the suggestions of another mind as upon those of his own... because no conscience can prescribe or act for another.

Harriet Martineau
from Harriet Martineau's Autobiography

AlexBell · 08-26-2015, 02:15 AM

'I was, however, in a certain degree struck by the nobleness of his larger view, and by the good sense of the doctrine that our present health of mind is all the personal concern that we have with our state and destiny: that our duties lie before our eyes and close to our hands; and that our business is with what we know, and have it in our charge to do, and not at all with a future which is, of its own nature, impenetrable.'

Harriet Martineau
in Harriet Martineau's Autobiography

covingtoncat73 · 08-29-2015, 09:27 PM

"Times are not good here. The city is crumbling into ashes. It has been buried under taxes and frauds and maladministrations so that it has become a study for archaeologists...but it is better to live here in sackcloth and ashes than to own the whole state of Ohio.”

― Lafcadio Hearn, Inventing New Orleans: Writings of Lafcadio Hearn

covingtoncat73 · 08-29-2015, 09:35 PM

"Then the Wind grew weird. It ceased being a breath; it became a Voice moaning across the world,—hooting,—uttering nightmare sounds,—Whoo!—whoo!—whoo!—and with each stupendous owl-cry the mooing of the waters seemed to deepen, more and more abysmally, through all the hours of darkness." Lafcadio Hearn, Chita: A Memory of Last Island

bfisher · 08-29-2015, 10:47 PM

Can a man who's warm understand one who's freezing?
- Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

kennyc · 08-30-2015, 08:20 PM

"Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure."
- Dr. Oliver Sacks (7/9/1933-8/30/2015)

AlexBell · 08-30-2015, 09:18 PM

'The kind-hearted among the gentry tend the sick, and pray with the disheartened, and reprove the sinner; but I have found it singularly difficult to persuade them that, however good may be wine and broth, and prayers and admonition, it is better to cut off the sources of disease, sin and misery by a purer method of living.'

Harriet Martineau
in Harriet Martineau's Autobiography

kennyc · 09-02-2015, 11:46 AM

We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.
- Ray Bradbury

From Goodreads:
September 2, 1932: On this day, an sideshow performer named Mr. Electrico called Ray Bradbury, age 12, out from the crowd. The eccentric man tapped the boy on the shoulder with a fake sword and told him, "Live forever!" Bradbury never forgot the encounter, crediting Mr. Electrico for inspiring his dedication to writing and creating.

kennyc · 09-03-2015, 06:59 AM

“For the first time in 4 billion years a living creature had contemplated himself and heard with a sudden, unaccountable loneliness, the whisper of wind in the night reeds.”
- Loren Eiseley

covingtoncat73 · 09-05-2015, 01:31 PM

"I see planets that don't exist and landscapes that have only been dreamed." Werner Herzog - Happy Birthday to him and you definitely just read that in his voice.

kennyc · 09-05-2015, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

"I see planets that don't exist and landscapes that have only been dreamed." Werner Herzog - Happy Birthday to him and you definitely just read that in his voice.

issybird · 09-05-2015, 05:33 PM

"You need to be very mad about an author to follow him down all his alleys, because you will be spending time on his minutiae that you could be devoting to someone else's main event." - Clive James, Cultural Amnesia

cocopuff · 09-05-2015, 10:23 PM

“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away...” - Terry Pratchett

kennyc · 09-08-2015, 06:55 AM

"When we came in she had her chair sideways, without even looking up to know that it was us, that the doctors had said that sitting and staring at the snow was a waste of time; she should get involved in something. She laughed and told us it wasn't a waste of time. It would be a waste of time just to stare at snowflakes, but she was counting, and even that might be a waste of time, but she was only counting the ones that were just alike"
― Ann Beattie, Chilly Scenes of Winter (born on this date - 9/8/1947)

(I've been reading her 'The New Yorker Stories' of late)

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08-23-2015, 07:28 PM	#2626
BenG Home Guard Posts: 4,730 Karma: 86721650 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6	As for literary criticism in general: I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel or a play or a poem is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae or a banana split. ― Kurt Vonnegut, Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage

08-24-2015, 02:51 AM	#2627
AlexBell Wizard Posts: 3,413 Karma: 13369310 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Launceston, Tasmania Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet	and I can assure any young author who may ever read this that he need feel no remorse, no misgiving about conceit or obstinacy, if he finds it impossible to work so well upon the suggestions of another mind as upon those of his own... because no conscience can prescribe or act for another. Harriet Martineau from Harriet Martineau's Autobiography

08-26-2015, 02:15 AM	#2628
AlexBell Wizard Posts: 3,413 Karma: 13369310 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Launceston, Tasmania Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet	'I was, however, in a certain degree struck by the nobleness of his larger view, and by the good sense of the doctrine that our present health of mind is all the personal concern that we have with our state and destiny: that our duties lie before our eyes and close to our hands; and that our business is with what we know, and have it in our charge to do, and not at all with a future which is, of its own nature, impenetrable.' Harriet Martineau in Harriet Martineau's Autobiography

08-29-2015, 09:27 PM	#2629
covingtoncat73 Wizard Posts: 2,745 Karma: 83407757 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Lenovo Duet Chromebook, Moto e	"Times are not good here. The city is crumbling into ashes. It has been buried under taxes and frauds and maladministrations so that it has become a study for archaeologists...but it is better to live here in sackcloth and ashes than to own the whole state of Ohio.” ― Lafcadio Hearn, Inventing New Orleans: Writings of Lafcadio Hearn

08-29-2015, 09:35 PM	#2630
covingtoncat73 Wizard Posts: 2,745 Karma: 83407757 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Lenovo Duet Chromebook, Moto e	"Then the Wind grew weird. It ceased being a breath; it became a Voice moaning across the world,—hooting,—uttering nightmare sounds,—Whoo!—whoo!—whoo!—and with each stupendous owl-cry the mooing of the waters seemed to deepen, more and more abysmally, through all the hours of darkness." Lafcadio Hearn, Chita: A Memory of Last Island

08-29-2015, 10:47 PM	#2631
bfisher Wizard Posts: 1,638 Karma: 28483498 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Ottawa Canada Device: Sony PRS-T3, Galaxy (Aldiko, Kobo app)	Can a man who's warm understand one who's freezing? - Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

08-30-2015, 08:20 PM	#2632
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,917 Karma: 119747553 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	"Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure." - Dr. Oliver Sacks (7/9/1933-8/30/2015)

08-30-2015, 09:18 PM	#2633
AlexBell Wizard Posts: 3,413 Karma: 13369310 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Launceston, Tasmania Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet	'The kind-hearted among the gentry tend the sick, and pray with the disheartened, and reprove the sinner; but I have found it singularly difficult to persuade them that, however good may be wine and broth, and prayers and admonition, it is better to cut off the sources of disease, sin and misery by a purer method of living.' Harriet Martineau in Harriet Martineau's Autobiography

09-02-2015, 11:46 AM	#2634
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,917 Karma: 119747553 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out. - Ray Bradbury From Goodreads: September 2, 1932: On this day, an sideshow performer named Mr. Electrico called Ray Bradbury, age 12, out from the crowd. The eccentric man tapped the boy on the shoulder with a fake sword and told him, "Live forever!" Bradbury never forgot the encounter, crediting Mr. Electrico for inspiring his dedication to writing and creating.

09-03-2015, 06:59 AM	#2635
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,917 Karma: 119747553 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	“For the first time in 4 billion years a living creature had contemplated himself and heard with a sudden, unaccountable loneliness, the whisper of wind in the night reeds.” - Loren Eiseley

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09-05-2015, 01:31 PM	#2636
covingtoncat73 Wizard Posts: 2,745 Karma: 83407757 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Lenovo Duet Chromebook, Moto e	"I see planets that don't exist and landscapes that have only been dreamed." Werner Herzog - Happy Birthday to him and you definitely just read that in his voice.

09-05-2015, 05:33 PM	#2638
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,337 Karma: 234636059 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	"You need to be very mad about an author to follow him down all his alleys, because you will be spending time on his minutiae that you could be devoting to someone else's main event." - Clive James, Cultural Amnesia

09-05-2015, 10:23 PM	#2639
cocopuff Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 366520 Join Date: Aug 2015 Device: Nook Simpletouch Glowlight, Kobo Aura H2O	“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away...” - Terry Pratchett

09-08-2015, 06:55 AM	#2640
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,917 Karma: 119747553 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	"When we came in she had her chair sideways, without even looking up to know that it was us, that the doctors had said that sitting and staring at the snow was a waste of time; she should get involved in something. She laughed and told us it wasn't a waste of time. It would be a waste of time just to stare at snowflakes, but she was counting, and even that might be a waste of time, but she was only counting the ones that were just alike" ― Ann Beattie, Chilly Scenes of Winter (born on this date - 9/8/1947) (I've been reading her 'The New Yorker Stories' of late)