“We have all probably noted those sudden moments of quiet - those strange and almost miraculous moments in the life of a big city when there is a cessation of traffic noise - just an instant when there is only the sound of footsteps which serves to emphasize a sudden peace. During those seconds it is possible to notice the sunlight, to notice our fellow humans, to take breath.” HumansMomentsBigsSoundCitiesSilenceStrangeQuietBreathsFellowsNoiseInstantSecondsSunlightTrafficMiraculousFootstepsBig Cities Author:Dorothy Day
“Nowadays, one of the churches of Tlön maintains platonically that such and such a pain, such and such a greenish-yellow colour, such and such a temperature, such and such a sound, etc., make up the only reality there is. All men, in the climactic instant of coitus, are the same man. All men who repeat one line of Shakespeare are William Shakespeare.” MenRealityPainSoundChurchLinesInstantRepeatsColourEtcYellowTemperatureOne Line Author:Jorge Luis Borges
“A cat is a purring parcel of paradox, a cunning collection of contradictions. A cat is lazy and busy, dainty and savage, affectionate and aloof, greedy and finicky, sound asleep in one instant, and awake and stalking in the next. A cat is a limp puddle of softness, surrounding a steel-hard and ever-alert set of muscles. ... A cat has the face of a pansy flower, and is just as velvety. A cat holds infinity in her eyes, and your heart in her front paws.” HeartHardEyeFacesNextSoundFrontsFlowerCatBusyAwakeInstantMusclesCollectionsLazyContradictionParadoxInfinitySavagesHer EyesSteelGreedyCunningStalkingAffectionateSoftnessPawsAloofPuddlesParcelPurringDaintyPansies Author:Leonore Fleischer
“I cannot remember a time when I was not enraptured or tortured by words. Always there have been words which, sometimes for their sound alone, sometimes for their sound and sense, I would not use. From a loathing of their grossness or sickliness, their weight or want of weight. Their inexactitude, their feeling of acidity or insipidity. Their action, not only on the intelligence but on the nerves, was instant.” WantHas BeensSometimesUseFeelingsActionRememberSoundWeightInstantNervesLoathing Book:The Crystal Cabinet: My Childhood at Salterns Source: The Crystal Cabinet: My Childhood at Salterns
“Have you ever been up in your plane at night, alone, somewhere, 20,000 feet above the ocean?... Did you ever hear music up there?... It's the music a man's spirit sings to his heart, when the earth's far away and there isn't any more fear. It's the high, fine, beautiful sound of an earth-bound creature who grew wings and flew up high and looked straight into the face of the future. And caught, just for an instant, the unbelievable vision of a free man in a free world.” MenWorldHeartEarthBeautifulFacesJoySpiritNightSoundFreedomVisionFeetFineGrewCreaturesOceanWingsBoundsCaughtFlyingPlanesInstantFar AwayUnbelievableFlewFree ManFree WorldNights AloneFlew Up Author:Dalton Trumbo
“A sound American is simply one who has put out of his mind all doubts and questionings, and who accepts instantly, and as incontrovertible gospel, the whole body of official doctrine of his day, whatever it may be and no matter how often it may change. The instant he challenges it, no matter how timorously and academically, he ceases by that much to be a loyal and creditable citizen of the republic.” MindMayMatterWholeBodyAmericaTimeSoundChangeChallengesAbilityAcceptingDoubtAcceptanceCitizensLoyaltyCeaseDoctrineInstantOfficialsRepublicLoyalQuestioning Book:Mencken Chrestomathy Source: Mencken Chrestomathy