#shadow

A person shows himself for an instant as in a photograph but clearer and in the background something which is bigger than his shadow. ↗

— Tomas Transtromer

#bigger #clearer #himself #his #instant

When you are old and gray and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire, take down this book and slowly read, and dream of the soft look your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep. ↗

— William Butler Yeats

#deep #down #dream #eyes #fire

Words are mere shadows cast by ideas. But the ideas they represent are real. ↗

— Roy H. Williams

#ideas #mere #real #represent #shadows

She's in the Catskill," Shopie began, but Scathach reached over and pinched her hand. "Ouch!" I just wanted to distract you," Scathach explained. "Don't even think about Black Annis. There are some names that should never be spoken aloud." That like saying don't think of elephants, Josh said, "and then all you can think about is elephants." Then let me give you something else to think about," Scathach said softly. "There are two police officers in the window staring at us. Don't look," she added urgently. Too late. Josh turned to look and whatever crossed his face--shock, horror, guilt or fear--bought both officers racing into the cafe, one pulling his automatic from its holster, the other speaking urgently into his radio as he drew his baton. ↗

— Michael Scott

#elephants #funny #hilarious #shadow #funny

Pulvis et umbra sumus. (We are but dust and shadow.) ↗

— Horace

#dust #greek #latin #life #shadow

And in that very moment, away behind in some far corner of the city, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed reckoning nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn. ↗

— J.R.R. Tolkien

#dawn #inspirational #shadow-of-death #tolkien #death

For most of my life I've been a listener. At least in the beginning, I think the reason I listened so intently was to have a chance of hearing the train before it ran over me. ↗

— Steve Rasnic Tem

#foreshadowing #listening #worry #life

Questa luce, cioè la storia, è spietata; essa ha questo di strano e di divino, e cioè che quantunque sia luce, e precisamente perché è luce, mette spesso dell'ombra là dove si vedono raggi; dello stesso uomo fa due fantasmi differenti, e l'uno attacca l'altro, e ne fa giustizia, e le tenebre del despota lottano con lo splendore del capitano. Da qui, una misura più vera nell'apprezzamento definitivo dei popoli. Babilonia violata diminuisce Alessandro; Roma incatenata diminuisce Cesare; Gerusalemme uccisa diminuisce Tito. La tirannia segue il tiranno. E' una sventura per un uomo lasciare dietro di sé dell'ombra che ha la forma sua. ↗

— Victor Hugo

#light #men #shadow #men

Nothing in the universe can travel at the speed of light, they say, forgetful of the shadow's speed. ↗

— Howard Nemerov

#forgetful #light #nothing #say #shadow

When we see the shadow on our images, are we seeing the time 11 minutes ago on Mars? Or are we seeing the time on Mars as observed from Earth now? It's like time travel problems in science fiction. When is now; when was then? ↗

— Bill Nye

#earth #fiction #images #like #mars