“In the past decade or so, the women's magazines have taken to running home-handyperson articles suggesting that women can learn to fix things just as well as men. These articles are apparently based on the ludicrous assumption that _men_ know how to fix things, when in fact all they know how to do is _look_ at things in a certain squinty-eyed manner, which they learned in Wood Shop; eventually, when enough things in the home are broken, they take a job requiring them to transfer to another home.” KnowsMenWellsEnoughFactsHomeRunningJobsPastCertainKnow HowTakenBrokenMen And WomenWoodsDecadesMagazinesAssumptionShopsArticlesTransfersSuggesting Author:Robert Briffault
“I have been Merlin wandering in the woods Of a far country, where the winds waken Unnatural voices , my mind broken By a sudden acquaintance with man's rage.” MenMindHas BeensCountryVoiceWindBrokenWoodsRageWanderAcquaintanceUnnatural Author:R. S. Thomas
“Of all the ruinous and desolate places my uncle had ever beheld, this was the most so. It looked as if it had once been a large house of entertainment; but the roof had fallen in, in many places, and the stairs were steep, rugged, and broken. There was a huge fire-place in the room into which they walked, and the chimney was blackened with smoke; but no warm blaze lighted it up now. The white feathery dust of burnt wood was still strewed over the hearth, but the stove was cold, and all was dark and gloomy.” IfsHeartStillsHouseDarkWhiteRoomsFireHugeBrokenColdEntertainmentWoodsWarmDustSmokeFallenRoofUnclesStairsGloomySpookySteepDesolateChimneysRuggedStoves Book:The posthumous papers of the Pickwick Club Source: The posthumous papers of the Pickwick Club
“Even though I don't have any larger spiritual or ideological system, there is some logic in concert with a huge number of beautiful, disconcerting, screwed-up variables that results in a certain visual pleasure in violent things. Like a broken egg yolk can be the most violent thing I've seen all day, if I'm in the right mood. But also tons of trash in the woods or a burned-up trailer park can also come across as especially violent.” IfsBeautifulSpiritualCertainPleasureResultsNumbersHugeBrokenLogicWoodsMoodViolentParksVisualsEggsConcertsBurnedTrashIdeologicalVariablesTrailersScrewed UpHuge NumbersTrailer Park Author:Elizabeth Neel
“Guys don't adapt as well as women do to getting their heart broken for the first time. It's tragic. I really wanted to be in love, get married, have kids and buy a wood-paneled station wagon for the family. But it didn't work out, and, boy, it wrecked it!” FirstsWellsHeartKidsWantedGuyBoysBrokenMarriedFirst TimeWork OutWoodsTragicStationsWagonsHeart Broke Author:Jamie Foxx
“The dog writhing in the gutter, its back broken by a passing car, knows what it is to be alive. So too with the aged elk of the far north woods, slowly dying in the bitter cold of winter. The asphalt upon which the dog lies knows no pain. The snow upon which the elk has collapsed knows not the cold. But living beings do.” KnowsPainLyingAliveDyingDogCarBrokenColdWinterWoodsPassingSnowPassingsBitterGuttersNo PainAsphaltElkBitter Cold Author:George Greenstein
“Imagination is the politics of dreams; imagination turns every word into a bottle rocket. . . . Imagine every day is Independence Day and save us from traveling the river changed; save us from hitchhiking the long road home. Imagine an escape. Imagine that your own shadow on the wall is a perfect door. Imagine a song stronger than penicillin. Imagine a spring with water that mends broken bones. Imagine a drum which wraps itself around your heart. Imagine a story that puts wood in the fireplace.” HeartLongStoriesHomeDreamSongTurnsWaterImaginationPerfectImagineDoorsChangedBrokenWallSpringShadowRiversStrongerIndependenceWoodsBonesBottlesImagine ThatWrapsRocketsIndependence DayFireplacesHitchhikingLong RoadPenicillinBroken BoneBottle Rocket Author:Sherman Alexie
“Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken legs and a separated shoulder, feeling like, well, he'd jumped off the New Brunswick train bridge.” WellsTwoPlayFeelingsHeavenRolesBrokenFindingsTrainLegsWoodsEightShouldersBridgesFiftyVirginsNerdJohnsonBroken Leg Author:Junot Diaz
“Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell,’ Holly advised him. ‘That was Doc’s mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can’t give your heart to a wild thing; the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they’re strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That’s how you’ll end up Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You’ll end up looking at the sky.” IfsGivingHeartEndsEnoughHomeRunningStrongHurtMistakeTreeSkyBrokenStrongerWingsLegsWoodsOne TimeBellsStrong EnoughHawksHolliesWild ThingsBreakfast At TiffanysBroken LegBobcats Book:Breakfast at Tiffany's Source: Breakfast at Tiffany's