“Under the desert sun, in the dogmatic clarity, the fables of theology and the myths of classical philosophy dissolve like mist. The air is clean, the rock cuts cruelly into flesh; shatter the rock and the odor of flint rises to your nostrils, bitter and sharp. Whirlwinds dance across the salt flats, a pillar of dust by day; the thornbush breaks into flame at night. What does it mean? It means nothing. It is as it is and has no need for meaning. The desert lies beneath and soars beyond any possible human qualification. Therefore, sublime.” NeedsHumansMeanDoePhilosophyLyingNightBreakSunCuttingAirRocksCleanMythFleshTheologyBitterClarityDustDesertFlamesFlatsSaltSublimeSoarMistPillarsFablesQualificationsDogmaticOdor Author:Edward Abbey
“We are the bird's eggs. Bird's eggs, flowers, butterflies, rabbits, cows, sheep, we are caterpillars; we are leaves of ivy and springs of wildflower. We are women. We rise from the wave. We are gazelle and doe, elephant and whale, lilies and roses and peach, we are air, we are flame, we are oyster and pearl, we are girls. We are woman and nature. And he says he cannot hear us speak. But we hear.” DoeGirlSpeakAirFlowerSpringBirdRoseWaveFlamesEggsCowsSheepButterflyElephantsPearlsRabbitsWhalesLiliesIvyOystersPeachesCaterpillarsWildflowersGazelles Author:Susan Griffin
“Countless candles dribbled with hot wax, and their flames, like little flags, fluttered in the unchartered currents of air. Thousands of lamps, naked, or shuttered behind coloured glass, burned with their glows of purple, amber, grass-green, blue, blood red and even grey. The walls of Gormenghast were like the walls of paradise or like the walls of an inferno. The colours were devilish or angelical according to the colour of the mind that watched them. They swam, those walls, with the hues of hell, with the tints of Zion. The breasts of the plumaged seraphim; the scales of Satan.” MindLittlesBehindsHellAirBloodWallRedHotBlueGreenGlassesCurrentsScalesNakedGrassFlamesSatanParadiseColourBreastsFlagsCandleBurnedGreyLampsPurpleHueAmberInfernoDevilishZionBlue BloodsGormenghast Book:Gormenghast Source: Gormenghast
“On the 1st of August, 1774, I endeavoured to extract air from mercurius calcinates per se [mercury oxide]; and I presently found that, by means of this lens, air was expelled from it very readily. … I admitted water to it [the extracted air], and found that it was not imbibed by it. But what surprized me more than I can well express, was, that a candle burned in this air with a remarkably vigorous flame… I was utterly at a loss how to account for it.” WellsMeanI CanFoundWaterLossAirAccountsFlamesCandleBurnedLensesAugustVigorousMercury Author:J. B. Priestley
“Fir : it contains a great deal of air and fire with very little moisture and the earthy, so that, as its natural properties are of the lighter class, it is not heavy. Hence, its consistence being naturally stiff, it does not easily bend under the load, and keeps its straightness when used in the framework. But it contains so much heat that it generates and encourages decay, which spoils it; and it also kindles fire quickly because of the air in its body, which is so open that it takes in fire and so gives out a great flame.” GivingLittlesDoeBodyUsedNaturalDealsClassFireAirPropertyHeavyFlamesHeatLoadDecayFrameworkSpoilLightersKindlesMoistureKindle Fire Author:Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
“The grapes on a score of rolling hills are red with autumn flame. Across Sonoma Mountain wisps of sea fog are stealing. The afternoon sun smoulders in the drowsy sky. I have everything to make me glad I am alive. I am filled with dreams and mysteries. I am all sun and air and sparkle. I am vitalized, organic.” DreamSunAliveAirMysterySeaSkyMountainRedFilledGladStealingHillsFlamesScoreAutumnAfternoonRollingFogGrapesSparkleWispsDrowsyI Am AliveRolling HillsAfternoon Sun Book:John Barleycorn Source: John Barleycorn