#om

Here lies a she sun, and a he moon there; She gives the best light to his sphere; Or each is both, and all, and so They unto one another nothing owe; And yet they do, but are So just and rich in that coin which they pay, That neither would, nor needs forbear, nor stay; Neither desires to be spared nor to spare. They quickly pay their debt, and then Take no acquittances, but pay again; They pay, they give, they lend, and so let fall No such occasion to be liberal. More truth, more courage in these two do shine, Than all thy turtles have and sparrows, Valentine. ↗

— John Donne

#bridegroom #love #passion #sexuality #wedding

what we call a home is merely any place that succeeds in making more consistenly available to us the important truths which the wider world ignores, or which our distracted and irresolute selves have trouble holding onto." (p123) Architecture of Happiness ↗

— Alain de Botton

#architecture

The door handle is the handshake of the building. ↗

— Juhani Pallasmaa

#phenomenology #architecture

But if it not be true, the myth itself requires to be explained, and every principle of philosophy and common sense demand that the explanation be sought, not in arbitrary allegorical categories, but in the actual facts of ritual or religious custom to which the myth attaches. ↗

— William Robertson Smith

#allegorical #arbitrary #attaches #be true #categories

Architectural romance: "Romance is not something that fits". An example; parts that are unlike those not exactly true, but also a car that just fits in the garage. ↗

— Leopold van de Ven

#car #example #fit #fitting-in #parts

Viewed from a certain distance and under good light, even an ugly city can look like the promised land. ↗

— Leon Krier

#community #architecture

We learned a verse of this and that and we were having fun with the songs. Tommy would make up stories to go along with them and I would yell at him, 'Hey, stupid, that's not right,' and he was like a silly kid trying to impress. ↗

— Dick Smothers

#fun #go #having #having fun #hey

The rigidity of a bottle's form does not affect the fluidity of the liquid it contains. ↗

— Leon Krier

#community #architecture

In literature, too, we admire prose in which a small and astutely arranged set of words has been constructed to carry a large consignment of ideas. 'We all have strength enough to bear the misfortunes of others,' writes La Rochefoucauld in an aphorism which transports us with an energy and exactitude comparable to that of Maillard bridge. The Swiss engineer reduces the number of supports just as the French writer compacts into a single line what lesser minds might have taken pages to express. We delight in complexity to which genius has lent an appearance of simplicity. (p 207) ↗

— Alain de Botton

#engineering #literature #simplicity #words #writing

I've reduced a lot of the stress in my life. I've gotten rid of a lot of things. The light was turned on and a lot of the cockroaches started spinning. I swept them out the door. And sometimes you just have to throw things out because they carry a certain energy. ↗

— Wesley Snipes

#carry #certain #cockroaches #door #energy