“There is first the literature of knowledge, and secondly, the literature of power. The function of the first is--to teach; the function of the second is--to move, the first is a rudder, the second an oar or a sail. The first speaks to the mere discursive understanding; the second speaks ultimately, it may happen, to the higher understanding or reason, but always through affections of pleasure and sympathy.” FirstsMayReasonHappensMovingLiteratureSpeakUnderstandingPleasureTeachHigherFunctionMereAffectionSailOarRudders Book:Leaders in literature Source: Leaders in literature
“Maybe this is a utopian view of art but I do believe that art can function as a vehicle, that it isn't just a cultural pursuit, something that happens in art galleries. Unless art is linked to experience and the fear and joy of that, it becomes mere icing on the cake.” BelieveArtHappensJoyViewsArt IsExperienceFunctionMerePursuitCakeVehicleLinkedGalleryUtopianIcingArt GalleriesIcing On The Cake Author:Antony Gormley
“Nothing makes me feel better - calmer, clearer and happier - than being in one place, absorbed in a book, a conversation, a piece of music. It's actually something deeper than mere happiness: it's joy, which the monk David Steindl-Rast describes as 'that kind of happiness that doesn't depend on what happens.” FeelsKindBookHappensMotivationalJoyPiecesDependsConversationMereDeeperFeel BetterMonkCalmerMake Me Feel Better Author:Pico Iyer
“The thing no one tells you about surviving, about the mere act of holding out, is how many hours are nothing because nothing happens. They also don’t tell you about how you can share your deepest secrets with someone, kiss them, and the next hour it’s like there’s nothing between you because not everything can mean something all the time or you’d be crushed under the weight of it.” MeanHappensNextHoursSecretShareKissingWeightMereThings HappenSurvivingCrushed Book:This Is Not a Test Source: This Is Not a Test
“As in the game of billiards, the balls are constantly producing effects from mere chance, which the most skillful player could neither execute nor foresee, but which, when they do happen, serve mainly to teach him how much he has still to learn; so it is in the most profound and complicated game of politics and diplomacy. In both cases, we can only regulate our play by what we have seen, rather than by what we have hoped; and by what we have experienced, rather than by what we have expected.” StillsPlayHappensGamesChanceTeachCasesPlayerEffectsBallsMereProfoundComplicatedExpectedDiplomacySkillfulHaving HopeBilliards Author:Charles Caleb Colton