#literature

Oh! it is absurd to have a hard-and-fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn't. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read. ↗

— Oscar Wilde

#humor #literature #reading #humor

Go ahead and laugh at Detroit. Because you are laughing at yourself. ↗

— Charlie LeDuff

#detroit #humor #literature #humor

Long ago an uncalled rain fell and a called-upon God stayed equally distant. ↗

— Dejan Stojanovic

#god #literature #literature-quotes #poems #poetry

Critical thinking does seem a superior sort of thinking because it seems as though the critic is actually going beyond the scope of what is being criticized in order to criticize it. That is only rarely a true assumption because, most often, the critic will seize on some little aspect that he or she understands and tackle only that. ↗

— Edward de Bono

#real-life #life

It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own. You may not appreciate them at first. You may pine for your novel of crude and unadulterated adventure. You may, and will, give it the preference when you can. But the dull days come, and the rainy days come, and always you are driven to fill up the chinks of your reading with the worthy books which wait so patiently for your notice. And then suddenly, on a day which marks an epoch in your life, you understand the difference. You see, like a flash, how the one stands for nothing, and the other for literature. From that day onwards you may return to your crudities, but at least you do so with some standard of comparison in your mind. You can never be the same as you were before. Then gradually the good thing becomes more dear to you; it builds itself up with your growing mind; it becomes a part of your better self, and so, at last, you can look, as I do now, at the old covers and love them for all that they have meant in the past. ↗

— Arthur Conan Doyle

#classic-literature #literature #maturity #reading #life

The enduring rapture with magic and fable has always struck me as latently childish and somehow sexless (and thus also related to childlessness). ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#childlessness #fable #fantasy-literature #literary-criticism #literature

See, see how the sun has moved onward while we talked. Nothing can stop it in its course. Prayers cannot halt the revolving of nature. It is the same with human life. Victory and defeat are one in the vast stream of life. Victory is the beginning of defeat, and who can rest safely in victory? Impermanence is the nature of all things of this world. Even you will find your ill fortunes too will change. It is easy to understand the impatience of the old, whose days are numbered, but why should you young ones fret when the future is yours? ↗

— Eiji Yoshikawa

#the-heike-story #change

Lee smiled. "My father said she was a strong woman, and I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is almost indestructible. ↗

— John Steinbeck

#eden #literature #of #steinbeck #strong

The boatman then gently guided the raft across. They saw a dead body floating. At the sight of this, the Master was greatly frightened. But Sun smiled and said, "Master do not be alarmed! That corpse is none other than your own." Zhu Bajie said, "It is you, it is you!" Sha the Monk clapped his hands, and also said, "It is you, it is you!" The boatman also remarked "It was yours, I congratulate you." The three pilgrims congratulated him, and they quietly crossed over the Could Ferry in safety. The Master's shape was changed, and he jumped ashore on the other side with a very light body. ↗

— Wu Cheng'en

#monkey #rebirth #change

Реализм: Заяц бежит быстрее Черепахи. Намного быстрее. И еще он сообразительней. Поэтому он побеждает. Рано или поздно. ОК? Сентиментальный романтизм: Самодовольный заяц прикорнул у обочины, а нравственно устойчивая Черепаха ковыляет к финишу. Сюрреализм (или рекламный ролик): Черепаха, снабженная роликовыми коньками и аккуратным рюкзачком из черной кожи, в солнцезащитных очках, легко мчит вперед, а оставленный позади зайчишка кусает себя за хвост. Из частной переписки: Милый Пушистик, припусти вперед и дождись меня у изгороди. Я буду на месте как только мне удастся уйти от них. Не может быть, чтобы они гнались за нами. Всегда твоя, Шелли. Детская сказка новейшего времени (написана экс-хиппи): Заяц и Черепаха, разочаровавшись в социальных и политических структурах, которые разжигают в обществе дух соперничества, покидают трассу и мирно доживают свои дни в убогой юрте, отказываясь давать интервью. Лимерик: Жила была черепашка Стью\ Простая как ду-би-ду\ Любила покой и уют\ и как-то свалилась в суп. Пост-модернизм: Я, автор, написал эту книгу. Это чистый конструкт. Заяц и Черепаха на самом деле не существуют, надеюсь вы это понимаете? ↗

— Julian Barnes

#literature #love