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Mark Doty

Mark Doty Quotes

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Famous Mark Doty Quotes

“Here and gone. That’s what it is to be human, I think—to be both someone and no one at once, to hold a particular identity in the world (our names, our place of origins, our family and affectional ties) and to feel that solid set of ties also capable of dissolution, slipping away, as we become moments of attention.”

ThinkingWorldFeelsHumansMomentsNamesAttentionGoneIdentityParticularCapableOur FamilyTiesSlippingDissolutionSlipping Away
Book:Still Life with Oysters and Lemon
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“Being in grief, it turns out, is not unlike being in love. In both states, the imagination's entirely occupied with one person. The beloved dwells at the heart of the world, and becomes a Rome: the roads of feeling all lead to him, all proceed from him. Everything that touches us seems to relate back to that center: there is no other emotional life, no place outside the universe of feeling centered on its pivotal figure.”

WorldHeartPersonsStatesFeelingsSeemsTurnsUniverseImaginationGriefFiguresEmotionalRelateBelovedRomeBeing In LovePivotalEmotional Life
Book:Heaven's Coast: A Memoir
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“Grief does not seem to me to be a choice. Whether or not you think grief has value, you will lose what matters to you. The world will break your heart. So I think we’d better look at what grief might offer us. It’s like what Rilke says about self-doubt: it is not going to go away, and therefore you need to think about how it might become your ally.”

ThinkingWorldNeedsLooksHeartDoeSelfMatterSeemsMightValuesChoicesLosesGriefBreakDoubtOffersGoing AwayAlliesWhat MattersSelf-doubtBreak Your Heart
Author:Mark Doty
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