“But the thing that stands eternally in the way of really good writing is always one: the virtual impossibility of lifting to the imagination those things which lie under the direct scrutiny of the senses, close to the nose. It is this difficulty that sets a value upon all works of art and makes them a necessity. The senses witnessing what is immediately before them in detail see a finality which they cling to in despair, not knowing which way to turn. Thus this so-called natural or scientific array becomes fixed, the walking devil of modern life.” WayWritingArtLyingValuesTurnsImaginationNaturalKnowingModernWalkingDespairDevilDirectDifficultyDetailsSensesNosesFixedWorks Of ArtNot KnowingImpossibilityModern LifeLiftingScrutinyGood WritingFinality Book:Kora in Hell: Improvisations Source: Kora in Hell: Improvisations
“In truth we gaze but do not see, and hearken but do not hear; we eat and drink but do not taste. And there lies the difference between Jesus of Nazareth and ourselves. His senses were all continually made new, and the world to Him was always a new world.” WorldMadeLyingJesusDifferencesDrinkTasteSensesNew WorldNazareth Book:Kahlil Gibran: Masterpieces Source: Kahlil Gibran: Masterpieces
“When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control.” PeopleWayLyingEvilForceEasyLosesSocietyLosingStandingSilentOneselfObviousSensesResistanceDestroyedRepeatsLiarsControlledCooperationResistingErodeProbity Author:Theodore Dalrymple
“It is far more probable that our senses should deceive us, than that an old woman should be carried up a chimney on a broom stick; and that it is far less astonishing that witnesses should lie, than that witches should perform the acts that were alleged.” ShouldLyingAtheismSticksPositive AtheismSensesWitnessWitchDeceivingAstonishingOld WomanChimneysBrooms Author:Michel de Montaigne