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Quote by James A. Baldwin

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James A. Baldwin
James A. Baldwin

James A. Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, and playwright. His works explored themes of race, gender, sexuality, and the class structure of American society. Baldwin is known for his profound social criticism and insight into the human condition. more

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“I did however used to think, you know, in the woods walking, and as a kid playing in the woods, that there was a kind of immanence there — that woods, and places of that order, had a sense, a kind of presence, that you could feel; that there was something peculiarly, physically present, a feeling of place almost conscious ... like God. It evoked that.”

ThinkingKnowsFeelsKindFeelingsKidsUsedSpiritReligionOrderSpiritualityWalkingConsciousWoodsAweKids Playing
Author:Robert Creeley
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“A little group of thatched cottages in the middle of the village had an orchard attached; and I remember well the peculiar purity of the blue sky seen through the white clusters of apple blossom in spring. I remember being moonstruck looking at it one morning early on my way to school. It meant something for me; what, I couldn't say. It gave me such an unease at heart, some reaching out towards perfection such as impels men into religion, some sense of the transcendence of things, of the fragility of our hold on life.”

MenWayWellsHeartLittlesSchoolRememberSpiritReligionSpiritualityWhiteMorningGroupsSkyMiddleSpringPerfectionBlueMy WayApplesPurityAweReachingVillagePeculiarReach OutTranscendenceBlue SkyCottagesFragilityOrchardClustersMoonstruck
Author:A. L. Rowse
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“Straight up from this road Away from the fitted particles of frost Coating the hull of each chick pea, And the stiff archer bug making its way In the morning dark, toe hair by toe hair, Up the stem of the trillim, Straight up through the sky above this road right now, The galaxies of the Cygnus A cluster Are colliding with each other in a massive swarm Of interpenetrating and exploding catastrophes. I try to remember that.”

WayTryingRememberDarkMorningSkyHairRight NowAweMassiveStemToesCatastropheGalaxyBugsParticlesChicksFrostExplodingPeasArcherStraight UpSwarmsClustersHullHair Up
Book:The Expectations of Light
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“To look at any thing, If you would know that thing, You must look at it long: To look at this green and say, "I have seen spring in these Woods," will not do - you must Be the thing you see: You must be the dark snakes of Stems and ferny plumes of leaves, You must enter in To the small silences between The leaves, You must take your time And touch the very peace They issue from.”

IfsKnowsLooksLongDarkSilenceIssuesSeeingSpringGreenWoodsAweStemSilence IsSnakesTake Your Time
Author:John Moffitt
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