“Water so clear cannot be imagined, but must be seen. One must go back, and back again, to look at it, for in the interval memory refuses to re-create its brightness. This is one of the reasons why the high plateau where these streams begin, the streams themselves, their cataracts and rocky beds, the corries, the whole wild enchantment, like a work of art is perpetually new when one returns to it. The mind cannot carry away all that it has to give, nor does it always believe possible what it has carried away.”
- Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain.
Category: words
“There are moments when a memory moves right through you.”
“There are moments when a memory moves right through you.”
- Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall.
- Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall.
“One of them has said too much; one of them has felt too much.”
“One of them has said too much; one of them has felt too much.”
- Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall.
- Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall.
“Each of us needs something of an island in his life—if not an actual island, at least some place, or…”
“Each of us needs something of an island in his life—if not an actual island, at least some place, or space in time, in which to be himself, free to cultivate his differences from others.”
- John Keats, Of Time and an Island.
- John Keats, Of Time and an Island.
“For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead…”
“For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of deserving, the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think.”
- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed.
- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed.
“The Amazing Maurice is a fantasy book. Of course, everyone knows that fantasy is ‘all about’…”
“
- Terry Pratchett, as part of his Carnegie Medal acceptance speech for The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents.
The Amazing Maurice is a fantasy book. Of course, everyone knows that fantasy is ‘all about’ wizards, but by now, I hope, everyone with any intelligence knows that, er, what everyone knows…is wrong.
Fantasy is more than wizards. For instance, this book is about rats that are intelligent. But it also about the even more fantastic idea that humans are capable of intelligence as well. Far more beguiling than the idea that evil can be destroyed by throwing a piece of expensive jewellery into a volcano is the possibility that evil can be defused by talking. The fantasy of justice is more interesting that the fantasy of fairies, and more truly fantastic. In the book the rats go to war, which is, I hope, gripping. But then they make peace, which is astonishing.
In any case, genre is just a flavouring. It’s not the whole meal. Don’t get confused by the scenery.
”- Terry Pratchett, as part of his Carnegie Medal acceptance speech for The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents.
“Those years weren’t lost. They simply weren’t the way I’d planned them.”
“Those years weren’t lost. They simply weren’t the way I’d planned them.”
- Kurt Vonnegut, letter to Nanette Vonnegut, 1971.
- Kurt Vonnegut, letter to Nanette Vonnegut, 1971.
“It’s clear that the books owned the shop rather than the other way about. Everywhere they had run…”
“It’s clear that the books owned the shop rather than the other way about. Everywhere they had run wild and taken possession of their habitat, breeding and multiplying, and clearly lacking any strong hand to keep them down.”
- Agatha Christie, The Clocks.
- Agatha Christie, The Clocks.
A comforting thought
Five thousand years ago, the Sumerians called the night ngi, the stars mul, and the moon Nanna.
Four thousand years ago, the Akkadians called the night mūšu, the stars kakkabū, and the moon Sîn.
Three thousand years ago, the Hittites called the night išpanza, the stars haštereš, and the moon Arma.
Two and a half thousand years ago, the Greeks called the night nux, the stars astra, and the moon Selênê.
Two thousand years ago, the Romans called the night nox, the stars stellae, and the moon Luna.
Kings and queens and heroes looked up at them. So did travelers coming home, and little children who sneaked out of bed. So did slaves, and mothers and soldiers and old shepherds, and Sappho and Muršili and Enheduanna and Socrates and Hatshepsut and Cyrus and Cicero. In this darkness it didn’t matter who they were, or where they stood. Only that they were human.
Think of that tonight, when you close your window. You are not alone. You share this night sky with centuries of dreamers and stargazers, and people who longed for quiet. Are you anxious? The Hittites were too: they called it pittuliyaš. Does your heart ache? The Greeks felt it too: they called it akhos. Those who look up to the stars for comfort are a family, and you belong to them. Your ancestors have stood under Nanna, Sîn, Arma, Selênê and Luna for five thousand years. Now its light is yours.
May it soothe you well.
“If complete and utter chaos was lightning, then he’d be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a…”
“If complete and utter chaos was lightning, then he’d be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shouting: “all gods are bastards!””
- Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic.
- Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic.