"Quotes"

So, I have been reading like a mad woman lately, devouring the words of everyone from Henry Miller to Ovid, and have had little time for blogging. But, I wanted to share some of the little tidbits of wisdom that I enjoyed from these wonderful 2-D creations in ink by these madmen (geniuses), and fellow artists.

P.S. I always find it unusual, fitting, and eerily ethereal, that every time I grab a seemingly random collection of books off of the dusty library shelves, that they contain very similar motifs and themes that have weight in my life at the time. Do do do do , doooooo. Okay, here you go, secrets to my soul right now:

"An artist is always alone-if he is and artist. No, what the artist needs is loneliness." Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer.

"What we are reluctant to touch often seems the very fabric of our salvation." John Irving, White Noise.

"The world is full of abandoned meanings. In the commonplace I find unexpected themes and intensities." John Irving, White Noise.

"...and remember withal that it is only this present, a moment of time, that a man lives: all the rest either has been lived or may never be." Marcus Aurelius.

"There is no new thing under the sun. Everything is familiar, everything is fleeting." Marcus Aurelius.

"And over here the white spun caterpillar/ Cradles himself with a living leaf/ (And this familiar to all country people)/ To change into a tombstone butterfly." Ovid, Metamorphoses.

"I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else. And all that is required to feel that here and now is happiness is a simple, frugal heart." Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek.

"My life had got on the wrong track, and my contact with men had become a mere soliloquy. I had fallen so low that, if I had had to choose between falling in love with a woman and reading a book about love, I should have chosen the book." Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek.

P.S.S. Well, there they are, words woven together to make more than merely sense, but also to touch the very fabric of our being. I usually hate when people quote quotes, but I just felt like sharing.

P.S.S.S. I love that terminology of Marcus Aurelius': a tombstone butterfly. It is simply beautiful, speaks the truth, and says so much in just two words. Try doing that Sue Grafton or James Patterson!