“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
“One of the pleasures of art is that it enables the mind to move in unanticipated directions, to make connections that may be in some sense errors but are fruitful nonetheless.” MindMayArtMovingPleasureArt IsConnectionsErrors Author:Donald Barthelme
“Pleasure and pain at once register upon the lover, inasmuch as the desirability of the love object derives, in part, from its lack. To whom is it lacking? To the lover. If we follow the trajectory of eros we consistently find it tracing out this same route: it moves out from the lover toward the beloved, then ricochets back to the lover himself and the hole in him, unnoticed before. Who is the subject of most love poems? Not the beloved. It is that hole.” IfsLovePainMovingPleasureSubjectsObjectsLoversHolesBelovedConsistentlyLackingRoutesLove PoemsRegisterUnnoticedTrajectoryPain And PleasureErosTracingDesirabilityRicochet Book:Eros the Bittersweet: An Essay Source: Eros the Bittersweet: An Essay
“Surely if living creatures saw the results of all their evil deeds, they would turn away from them in disgust. But selfhood blinds them, and they cling to their obnoxious desires. They crave pleasure for themselves and they cause pain to others; when death destroys their individuality, they find no peace; their thirst for existence abides and their selfhood reappears in new births. Thus they continue to move in the coil and can find no escape from the hell of their own making.” IfsPainMovingDesireTurnsEvilCausesPleasureResultsExistenceHellSawsBirthCreaturesIndividualityDeedsKarmaDisgustingThirstCraveLiving CreaturesObnoxious Author:Gautama Buddha
“Words, living and ghostly, the quick and the dead, crowd and jostle the otherwise too empty corridors of my mind ... To move among this bright, strange, often fabulous herd of beings, to summon them at my will, to fasten them on to paper like flies, that they may decorate it, this is the pleasure of writing.” WritingMindMayMovingPleasureStrangePaperEmptyCrowdsFabulousHerdsOf My MindCorridors Book:Personal Pleasures Source: Personal Pleasures
“But weightier still are the contentment which comes from work well done, the sense of the value of science for its own sake, insatiable curiosity, and, above all, the pleasure of masterly performance and of the chase. These are the effective forces which move the scientist. The first condition for the progress of science is to bring them into play.” FirstsWellsStillsDonePlayMovingScienceValuesForcePleasureProgressConditionsPerformancesScientistCuriositySakeMotiveContentmentWell DoneInsatiableWork Well Done Author:Lawrence Joseph Henderson
“When you're comfortable and secure, it's not enough. The mind doesn't stop there because it has to continue to focus itself as this body, so it moves to pleasure. And pleasure really is a non-existent thing. When we're experiencing pleasure, we're trying to hold onto it as it leaves, so it really isn't pleasure. Pleasure is pain because we're grasping.” TryingMindEnoughBodyPainMovingPleasureFocusComfortableSecureGrasping Author:Byron Katie
“The past moves me and with me, although I remove myself from it. Its light often shines on this night traveler: and when it does, I scribble it down. Whatever pleasure is in it I need pass on. That's happiness. That is who I am.” NeedsDoeLightPastMovingNightPleasureShiningWho I AmRemoveTravelerShine OnScribbles Author:Virginia Hamilton
“India is a place where one of the great pleasures for a foreigner is that you're constantly surprised. Everywhere you look is something that is either funny, or very moving, but there is always so much that is so unexpected. That's part of the reason why people who like it tend to love it.” PeopleLooksReasonMovingPleasureIndiaReason WhyUnexpectedForeignersVery Moving Author:Wes Anderson