“Thoughts are slippery fish in a cold shallow stream.If you are intent on capturing a worthwhile one, you need to stand very still, focus very hard on somewhere outside yourself, and then simply ignore it until it gets so close that it tickles your ankles.Then, pounce.” IfsNeedsStillsHardFocusColdFishesStreamsWorthwhileShallowSlipperyAnkles Author:Vera Nazarian
“One of the things that I've noticed over the years is that I seem to be fascinated as a writer with the notion that we already have all that we need.” NeedsYearsSeemsNotionFascinated Author:Vera Nazarian
“It is right here, all of it, here for the taking, right before our eyes - happiness, fulfillment, hope, peace, justice. And most of all, there is truth, ordinary and simple, just sitting there to be plucked, if only we get our lazy rear ends off the pillow of complacency. But first, we need to open our eyes to this banal fact. And for that we need a periodic bit of shakeup in the form of an infusion of wonder - fantastic literature.” IfsNeedsFirstsEndsFactsEyeFormLiteratureBitsJusticeSimpleWonderOrdinarySittingFantasticFulfillmentLazyComplacencyPillowPeace JusticeInfusion Author:Vera Nazarian
“Some writers whom I respect very much, like China Miéville and some others of the New Weird, consider the true role of fantasy to be not Tolkienesque consolation but subversion - a kind of rebe Ûllion from complacency. Yes, I can see what is meant here. And I also see the need to change, to fix, to drastically improve the human lot.” NeedsHumansKindI CanRolesFantasyChinaConsolationComplacencyNeed A ChangeSubversionYes I Can Author:Vera Nazarian
“We don't need fantasy to mess with our minds to the point of rendering us insane - real life horrors do that already.” NeedsMindRealFantasyHorrorReal LifeInsaneMessRendering Author:Vera Nazarian
“What we need in fantasy is the sudden balm of clarity - a temporary reprieve from life's white noise and clamor of pain, a kind of time-out. Such clarity, a new perspective, is made possible by fantastic metaphor.” NeedsKindMadePainWhiteFantasyPerspectiveMetaphorNoiseClarityFantasticTemporaryClamorNew PerspectiveReprieveWhite Noise Author:Vera Nazarian
“Justice based purely on laws is about as accurate as a portrait created out of large low-resolution color pixels. If you stand back far enough it looks good. Come any closer and the glaring approximations overtake all semblance of the original. Justice should be viewable under the microscope, not from a telescope. And for that it needs to be based not on law but on truth.” IfsNeedsShouldLooksEnoughLawJusticeColorLowsOriginalsResolutionAccuratePortraitsTelescopesMicroscopesSemblanceApproximationPixels Author:Vera Nazarian
“No Temple made by mortal human hands can ever compare to the Temple made by the gods themselves. That building of wood and stone that houses us and that many believe conceals the great Secret Temple from prying eyes, somewhere in its heart of hearts, is but a decoy for the masses who need this simple concrete limited thing in their lives. The real Temple is the whole world, and there is nothing as divinely blessed as a blooming growing garden.” WorldNeedsBelieveHumansHeartMadeRealWholeHandsEyeHouseSimpleSecretGrowingBuildingMassGardenStonesBlessedWoodsWhole WorldMortalsCompareTemplesGardeningConcreteBloomingHuman Hands Author:Vera Nazarian
