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Quote by Robertson Davies

“Of course, fairies are all imported in North America. We have no native fairies. The Little People do not long survive importation unless they go to California and grow large and beautiful, but haven't much flavour, like the fruit and the film stars.”

Quote by Robertson Davies

Book:Happy Alchemy: On the Pleasures of Music and the Theatre

Work

Happy Alchemy: On the Pleasures of Music and the Theatre

This book delves into the intricate relationship between music and theatre, analyzing their shared elements and unique contributions to the arts. It investigates the emotional and psychological effects of both forms of entertainment, and their role in shaping society and individual expression. more

Author

Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies was a Canadian novelist known for his wit and humor. His works often set in the Canadian society, exploring the relationship between individuals and society. Davies' works include the 'Amos Fortune' series and the 'Crown of the North' series, which are highly appreciated by readers. more

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“Celtic civilization was tribal, but by no means savage or uncultivated. People who regarded the theft of a harp from a bard as a crime second only to an attack on the tribal chieftain cannot be regarded as wanting in cultivated feeling.”

People Mean Feelings Crime Civilization Savages Theft Harps Celtic Bards

Book:Happy Alchemy: Writings on the Theatre and Other Lively Arts

Source: Happy Alchemy: Writings on the Theatre and Other Lively Arts

“That's the nub of the thing, you see seriousness of spirit. It doesn't mean heaviness of heart, or a lack of fantasy, but it does mean an awareness of influences that touch our lives, sometimes in ways that seem cruel and unfeeling, and sometimes in ways that open up a glory which can never be forgotten.”

Way Heart Mean Doe Sometimes Seems Spirit Fantasy Our Lives Influence Awareness Glory Forgotten Seriousness Heaviness Unfeeling

Book:Happy Alchemy: On the Pleasures of Music and the Theatre

Source: Happy Alchemy: On the Pleasures of Music and the Theatre

“The first principle, when you don't know anything about the subject of a thesis, is to let the candidate talk, nodding now and then with an ambiguous smile. He thinks you know, and are counting his mistakes, and it unnerves him... the second principle of conducting an oral, ... is to pretend ignorance, and ask for explanations of very simple points. Of course your ignorance is real, but the examinee thinks you are being subtle, and that he is making an ass of himself, and this rattles him.”

Thinking Knows Firsts Real Courses Asks Simple Mistake Principles Subjects Ignorance Ass Explanation Candidates Subtle Now And Then Counting Ambiguous Conducting Thesis Nodding

Author:Robertson Davies

“In too many modern churches there is no emphasis on theology at all. There is a kind of justification by works or by keeping up with modern trends anything that will drag in a few more people.”

People Kind Church Modern Theology Trends Drag Justification Emphasis

Author:Robertson Davies

“One of the things that puzzles me is that so few people want to look at life as a totality and to recognize that death is no more extraordinary than birth. When they say it's the end of everything they don't seem to recognize that we came from somewhere and it would be very, very strange indeed to suppose that we're not going somewhere.”

People Want Looks Ends Seems Would Be Strange Birth Extraordinary Puzzles Totality

Book:Conversations with Robertson Davies

Source: Conversations with Robertson Davies

“Women tell men things that men are not very likely to find out for themselves.”

Book:Conversations with Robertson Davies

Source: Conversations with Robertson Davies

“Are you going to be just kind of a walking monument to a job, or are you going to have some kind of really significant inner life of your own? Because the external things the job, the house, the this, the that do not really fill the place inside.”

Kind Jobs House Walking Significant Monument Inner Life

Book:Conversations with Robertson Davies

Source: Conversations with Robertson Davies

“Marriage is a framework to preserve friendship. It is valuable because it gives much more room to develop than just living together. It provides a base from which a person can work at understanding himself and another person.”

Giving Persons Together Understanding Rooms Valuable Preserves Framework Living Together

Author:Robertson Davies

“They [say] everybody's creative. Well, everybody is. But any real creativity has to rest on a basis of an acquired technique and an acquired knowledge; you can't be creative in a void, or you just get a mess.”

Wells Real Creativity Creative Bases Technique Mess Void Be Creative

Author:Robertson Davies

“Art is always at peril in universities, where there are so many people, young and old, who love art less than argument, and dote upon a text that provides the nutritious pemmican on which scholars love to chew.”

People Art Young Art Is Argument University Scholar Peril Young And Old

Book:The Cunning Man

Source: The Cunning Man