#reflections

I confess freely to you, I could never look long upon a monkey, without very mortifying reflections. ↗

— William Congreve

#could #freely #i #long #look

Oh fair enough are sky and plain, But I know fairer far: Those are as beautiful again That in the water are; The pools and rivers wash so clean The trees and clouds and air, The like on earth was never seen, And oh that I were there. These are the thoughts I often think As I stand gazing down In act upon the cressy brink To strip and dive and drown; But in the golden-sanded brooks And azure meres I spy A silly lad that longs and looks And wishes he were I. ↗

— A.E. Housman

#nature #pool #reflection #reflections #river

The sight of a child…will arouse certain longings in adult, civilized persons — longings which relate to the unfulfilled desires and needs of those parts of the personality which have been blotted out of the total picture in favor of the adapted persona. ↗

— C.G. Jung

#from #memories #reflections #dreams

The wolf exerts a powerful influence on the human imagination. It takes your stare and turns it back on you ↗

— Barry Lopez

#of-wolves #reflections #wolf #imagination

It is conceivable that ideas derived from Akhenaten's system formed part of that Egyptian 'Wisdom' in which Moses was bred. There is nothing to disquiet us in such a possibility. Whatever was true in Akhenaten's creed came to him, in some mode or other, as all truth comes to all men, from God. ↗

— C.S. Lewis

#egypt #god #jews #reflections-on-the-psalms #religion

There are very few of us who remember the day, the moment, when our childhood ends. For most of us, the sun sets on our innocence gradually, sliding down over the western horizon like a toboggan run down over a long, steep slope. We are never really conscious of the moment we reach the bottom of the slope; we just know that one day we wake up and the toboggan ride is over. ↗

— Jennifer Wixson

#personal-growth #reflections #nature

Pride,’ observed Mary, who piqued herself upon the solidity of her reflections, ‘is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary. ↗

— Jane Austen

#pride #reflections #self-complacency #truth #nature

Silence. How long it lasted, I couldn't tell. It might have been five seconds, it might have been a minute. Time wasn't fixed. It wavered, stretched, shrank. Or was it me that wavered, stretched, and shrank in the silence? I was warped in the folds of time, like a reflection in a fun house mirror. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#mirrors #reflections #seconds #shrinking #silence

Men seek for vocabularies that are reflections of reality. To this end, they must develop vocabularies that are selections of reality. And any selection of reality must, in certain circumstances, function as a deflection of reality. ↗

— Kenneth Burke

#certain #circumstances #develop #end #function

To whom, then, must I dedicate my wonderful, surprising and interesting adventures? to whom dare I reveal my private opinion of my nearest relations? the secret thoughts of my dearest friends? my own hopes, fears, reflections and dislikes? Nobody! ↗

— Frances Burney

#dare #dearest #dedicate #dislikes #fears