I Am Vertical But I would rather be horizontal. I am not a tree with my root in the soil Sucking up minerals and motherly love So that each March I may gleam into leaf, Nor am I the beauty of a garden bed Attracting my share of Ahs and spectacularly ...
The simplest truth about man is that he is a very strange being; almost in the sense of being a stranger on the earth. In all sobriety, he has much more of the external appearance of one bringing alien habits from another land than of a mere growth o...
Lord, if I thought you were listening, I'd pray for this above all: that any church set up in your name should remain poor, and powerless, and modest. That it should wield no authority except that of love. That it should never cast anyone out. That i...
He got up and ran on, pitching himself down the hill, flying through the branches of the firs, leaping roots and rocks without seeing them. As he went, the hill got steeper and steeper, until it was really like falling. He was going too fast and he k...
I went back every evening, after work, for nearly a year. I learned the meaning of the cud of a leaf and the glisten of wet pebbles, and the special significance of curves and angles. A great deal of the writing was unwritten. Plot three dots on a gr...
Judah Rosenthal: And after the awful deed is done, he finds that he's plagued by deep-rooted guilt. Little sparks of his religious background which he'd rejected are suddenly stirred up. He hears his father's voice. He imagines that God is watching h...
Granny Hawkins: So, you'll be Josey Wales. Josey Wales: Now, how might you know that, Granny? Granny Hawkins: Soldiers were here looking for you 'bout two hours ago. [Josey looks at Carstairs] Sim Carstairs: Uh, I was goin' to mention that to you... ...
Doctor: Ray, can we try something? Raymond: Yeah. Doctor: Do you know how much 312 x 123 is? Raymond: [saying digit after digit] 3-8-3-7-6. Doctor: [amazed] He's right. Charlie: What? Doctor: He's right! Charlie: He's right? Doctor: Yeah. [the calcul...
When strangers on a train or a plane ask what I do for a living, I say, "I kill people." This response makes for a short conversation. No eye contact and no sudden movement from my seat-mate. Only peace and quiet. Rare is the fellow passenger who ask...
