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Quote by Daniel Keyes

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Flowers for Algernon

This novel follows the journey of Charlie Gordon, a mentally challenged man who undergoes an experimental surgery to increase his intelligence. The narrative intertwines his personal growth with the development of his relationship with a mouse named Algernon, providing a profound look into the complexities of human nature and societal perceptions. more

Author

Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes

Daniel Keyes, born on August 9, 1927, was a renowned American author known for his profound psychological insights and exploration of human nature. His most famous work, 'Flowers for Algernon,' tells the story of a man with intellectual disability who undergoes an operation to increase his intelligence, delving deeply into the complexities of human emotions and morality. Keyes' writing has had a significant impact on contemporary literature, offering both readers and the fields of psychology and sociology valuable insights. more

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“Where do you think the notes were before Chopin wrote his nocturnes?” With a nod of confusion I asked, “Where?” She leaned back, exhaling a stream of smoke, as if unraveling a hidden truth. “I believe those notes were always present, suspended in the air, waiting for an artist's embrace. It's as if there's an intangible essence, an elusive sense, that artists possess. They have the ability to pluck those ethereal notes from the unseen and mold them into tangible forms, giving voice to our deepest emotions and translating them into melodies that resonate within us.”

“Orvil mainly listens to powwow music. There's something in the energy of that big booming drum, in the intensity of the singing, like an urgency that feels specifically Indian. He likes the power the sound of a chorus of voices makes too, those high-pitched wailed harmonies, how you can't tell how many singers there are, and how sometimes it sounds like ten singers, sometimes like a hundred.”

“There is a curious idea among unscientific men that in scientific writing there is a common plateau of perfectionism. Nothing could be more untrue. The reports of biologists are the measure, not of the science, but of the men themselves. There are as few scientific giants as any other kind. In some reports it is impossible, because of inept expression, to relate the descriptions to the living animals. In some papers collecting places are so mixed or ignored that the animals mentioned cannot be found at all. The same conditioning forces itself into specification as it does into any other kind of observation, and the same faults of carelessness will be found in scientific reports as in the witness chair of a criminal court. It has seemed sometimes that the little men in scientific work assumed the awe-fullness of a priesthood to hide their deficiencies, as the witch-doctor does with his stilts and high masks, as the priesthoods of all cults have, with secret or unfamiliar languages and symbols. It is usually found that only the little stuffy men object to what is called "popularization", by which they mean writing with a clarity understandable to one not familiar with the tricks and codes of the cult. We have not known a single great scientist who could not discourse freely and interestingly with a child. Can it be that the haters of clarity have nothing to say, have observed nothing, have no clear picture of even their own fields? A dull man seems to be a dull man no matter what his field, and of course it is the right of a dull scientist to protect himself with feathers and robes, emblems and degrees, as do other dull men who are potentates and grand imperial rulers of lodges of dull men.”