I never wear my best coat on a journey, though perchance I could show a certificate to prove that I have a more costly one, at lea...st, at home, if that were all that a gentleman required. It is not wise for a traveler to go dressed. I should no more think of it than of putting on a clean dicky and blacking my shoes to go a-fishing; as if you were going out to dine, when, in fact, the genuine traveler is going out to work hard, and fare harder,--to eat a crust by the wayside whenever he can get it. Honest traveling is about as dirty work as you can do, and a man needs a pair of overalls for it. As for blacking my shoes in such a case, I should as soon think of blacking my face.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I think that the heroism which at this day would make on us the impression of Epaminondas and Phocion must be that of a domestic c...onqueror. He who shall bravely and gracefully subdue this Gorgon of Convention and Fashion, and show men how to lead a clean, handsome and heroic life amid the beggarly elements of our cities and villages; whoso shall teach me how to eat my meat and take my repose and deal with men, without any shame following, will restore the life of man to splendor, and make his own name dear to all history.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Sweetest love, I do not go For weariness of thee,... Nor in hope the world can show A fitter love for me; But since that I Must die at last, 'tis best To use myself in jest Thus by feigned deaths to die.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Sweet Echo, sweetest Nymph that liv'st unseen Within thy airy shell... By slow Meander's margent green, And in the violet imbroider'd vale Where the love-lorn Nightingale Nightly to thee her sad Song mourneth well. Canst thou not tell me of a gently Pair That likest thy Narcissus are? O if thou have Hid them in som flowry Cave, Tell me but where, Sweet Queen of Parly, Daughter of the Sphear, So maist thou be translated to the skies, And give resounding grace to all Heav'n's Harmonies.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
... the Ovarian Theory of Literature, or, rather, its complement, the Testicular Theory. A recent camp follower ... of this explic...it theory is ... Norman Mailer, who has attributed his own gift, and the literary gift in general, solely and directly to the possession of a specific pair of organs. One writes with these organs, Mailer has said ... and I have always wondered with what shade of ink he manages to do it.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
By the roadside a hideous carrion, quivering On a clean bed of pebbly clay,... Her legs flexed in the air like a courtesan, Burning and sweating venomously, Calmly exposed its belly, ironic and wan, Clamorous with foul ecstasy.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
A sense of humour keen enough to show a man his own absurdities as well as those of other people will keep a man from the commissi...on of all sins, or nearly all, save those that are worth committing.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
A child is more than the sum of her parts. So are you What you feel about life, about each other, about being parents--if it's on ...the positive side--is probably transcendent. If you enjoy your daughter, enjoy the whims and fancies, funny quirks, blind spots, and special abilities that define her, and show a decent sensitivity to her needs from year to year, that will compensate for all the inevitable false moves and sins of commission and omission and have a dominant influence on your relationship.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »