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Quote by Ben Lerner

“Art has to offer something other than stylized despair.”

Work

This book delves into the complexities of time perception and the impact of memory on personal identity, set against the backdrop of a mysterious and enigmatic narrative. more

Author

Ben Lerner

Ben Lerner, born on February 4, 1979, is an American poet known for his unique style and profound reflections on contemporary social issues. more

“Laser technology has fulfilled our people's ancient dream of a blade so fine that the person it cuts remains standing and alive until he moves and cleaves. Until we move, none of us can be sure that we have not already been cut in half, or in many pieces, by a blade of light. It is safest to assume that our throats have already been slit, that the slightest alteration in our postures will cause the painless severance of our heads.”

People Persons Dream Light Moving Causes Half Technology Pieces Cutting Alive Fine Standing Remains Assuming Ancient Throat Fulfilled Blades Posture Alterations Lasers Slits Painless

Book:No Art: Poems

Source: No Art: Poems

“If I was a poet, I had become one because poetry, more intensely than any other practice, could not evade its anachronism and marginality and so constituted a kind of acknowledgment of my own preposterousness, admitting my bad faith in good faith, so to speak.”

Ifs Kind Speak My Own Practice Poet Admitting Acknowledgment Good Faith Anachronism

Book:Leaving the Atocha Station

Source: Leaving the Atocha Station

“The scare quotes burn off like fog.”

Scare Fog

Author:Ben Lerner

“What interests me about fiction is, in part, its flickering edge between realism and where a tear in the fabric of a story lets in some other sort of light.”

Stories Light Interest Fiction Tears Edges Realism Fabric

Author:Ben Lerner

“I came to realize that far more important to me than any plot or conventional sense was the sheer directionality I felt while reading prose, the texture of time as it passed, life's white machine.”

Important Reading Felt Realizing White Machines Prose Plot Conventional Sheer Texture

Book:Leaving the Atocha Station

Source: Leaving the Atocha Station

“I’ll work my way from irony to sincerity in the sinking city, a would-be Whitman of the vulnerable grid.”

Way Would Be Cities Vulnerable My Way Irony Sincerity Sinking Grids

Book:10:04: A Novel

Source: 10:04: A Novel

“Laughter is the jam on the toast of life. It adds flavor, keeps it from being too dry, and makes it easier to swallow.”

Easier Laughter Add Dry Flavor Jam Toasts

Author:Diane Johnson

“The Novelist, afraid his ideas may be foolish, slyly puts them in the mouth of some other fool and reserves the right to disavow them.”

May Ideas Fool Mouths Foolish Novelists Reserves

Book:Terrorists and novelists

Source: Terrorists and novelists

“The ones who want to achieve and win championships motivate themselves.”

Want Motivational Motivation Winning Sports Achieve Athlete Motivational Sports Championship Winning Championships

Book:Ditka: An Autobiography

Source: Ditka: An Autobiography

“Statuettes of drunken sailors, velvet pictures of island maidens, plastic seashell lamps made in Taiwan. What contempt the people who think up souvenirs have for other people.”

People Thinking Made Travel Islands Contempt Plastic Lamps Sailor Velvet Maidens Taiwan Souvenirs

Book:Natural opium: some travelers' tales

Source: Natural opium: some travelers' tales

Quote by Ben Lerner

Work

Author

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