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Quote by Djuna Barnes

“No man needs curing of his individual sickness; his universal malady is what he should look to.”

Quote by Djuna Barnes

Work

Nightwood is a complex and haunting narrative that delves into the psychological and emotional complexities of its characters. The story is set against the backdrop of the turbulent period following World War I, offering a glimpse into the lives of individuals grappling with their identities and desires. The novel is known for its poetic prose and its exploration of the nature of love, the struggle for self-acceptance, and the search for belonging. more

Author

Djuna Barnes, an American writer, was born on June 12, 1892, and died on June 18, 1982. She is known for her unique literary style and profound modernist thoughts. more

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“Sleep demands of us a guilty immunity.”

Sleep Demand Guilty Immunity

Author:Djuna Barnes

“Youth is cause, effect is age; so with the thickening of the neck we get data.”

Age Causes Effects Youth Data Necks

Book:Nightwood

Source: Nightwood

“Certainty always produces questions, uncertainty statements. It is a balancing law of nature.”

Law Produce Statements Certainty Uncertainty Laws Of Nature

Book:New York

Source: New York

“I've seen death and I didn't like it.”

Author:Djuna Barnes

“The whole world is nothing but a noise, as hot as the inside of a tiger's mouth. They call it civilization - that is a lie! But some day you may have to go out, someone will try to take you out, and you will not understand them or what they are saying, unless you understand nothing, absolutely nothing, then you will manage.”

World Trying May Whole Lying Existence Civilization Mouths Hot Whole World Noise Manage Tigers Absolutely Nothing

Author:Djuna Barnes

“Una's face was an unbroken block of calculation, saving where, upon her upper lip, a little down of hair fluttered. Yet it gave one an uncanny feeling. It made one think of a tassel on a hammer.”

Thinking Littles Made Feelings Faces Hair Lips Block Saving Hammers Calculations Unbroken Uncanny Tassels

Book:Vivid and Repulsive as the Truth: The Early Works of Djuna Barnes

Source: Vivid and Repulsive as the Truth: The Early Works of Djuna Barnes

“Madness to us means reversion; to such people as Una and Lena it meant progression. Now their uncle had entered into a land beyond them, the land of fancy. For fifty years he had been as they were, silent, hard-working, unimaginative. Then all of a sudden, like a scholar passing his degree, he had gone up into another form.”

Source: Vivid and Repulsive as the Truth: The Early Works of Djuna Barnes

“When one wants to become cognizant of the color and the texture of the soil, one does not get a ladder; one gets a shovel. When one wants to get into touch with the texture of the universal mind, one does not go to Boston; one goes to the Bowery.”

Want Mind Doe Color Universal Soil Ladders Boston Texture Shovels Cognizant

Book:New York

Source: New York

“New York rose out of the water like a great wave that found it impossible to return again and so remained there in horror, peering out of the million windows man had caged it with.”

Men Found Water Millions Impossible New York Return Horror Window Rose Wave Caged

Book:Vivid and Repulsive as the Truth: The Early Works of Djuna Barnes

Source: Vivid and Repulsive as the Truth: The Early Works of Djuna Barnes

“I couldn't ever boil potatoes over the heat of your affection. Your love would never bridge a gap; it wouldn't even fill up the hole that the mice came through.”

Affection Holes Bridges Heat Gaps Mice Potatoes Shortcomings

Book:Collected Stories

Source: Collected Stories