Do they [the publishers of Murphy] not understand that if the book is slightly obscure it is because it is a compression and that ...to compress it further can only make it more obscure?LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The triumphs of peace have been in some proximity to war. Whilst the hand was still familiar with the sword-hilt, whilst the habit...s of the camp were still visible in the port and complexion of the gentleman, his intellectual power culminated; the compression and tension of these stern conditions is a training for the finest and softest arts, and can rarely be compensated in tranquil times, except by some analogous vigor drawn from occupations as hardy as war.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
To translate, one must have a style of his own, for otherwise the translation will have no rhythm or nuance, which come from the p...rocess of artistically thinking through and molding the sentences; they cannot be reconstituted by piecemeal imitation. The problem of translation is to retreat to a simpler tenor of one's own style and creatively adjust this to one's author.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
When I say artist I don't mean in the narrow sense of the word--but the man who is building things--creating molding the earth--wh...ether it be the plains of the west--or the iron ore of Penn. It's all a big game of construction--some with a brush--some with a shovel--some choose a pen.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The blues women had a commanding presence and a refreshing robustness. They were nurturers, taking the yeast of experience, kneadi...ng it into dough, molding it and letting it grow in their minds to bring the listener bread for sustenance, shaped by their sensibilities.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
It shrinks my liver, doesn't it? It pickles my kidneys. Yeah. But what does it do to my mind? It tosses the sandbags overboard so ...the balloon can soar. Suddenly, I'm above the ordinary. I'm competent, supremely competent. I'm walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls. I'm one of the great ones. I'm Michelangelo molding the beard of Moses. I'm Van Gogh, painting pure sunlight. I'm Horowitz playing the "Emperor Concerto." I'm John Barrymore, before the movies got him by the throat.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The zipless fuck is absolutely pure. It is free of ulterior motives. There is no power game. The man is not "taking" and the woman... is not "giving." No one is attempting to cuckold a husband or humiliate a wife. No one is trying to prove anything or get anything out of anyone. The zipless fuck is the purest thing there is. And it is rarer than the unicorn. And I have never had one.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »