Mike IJzerman > Quotes

“It would seem as if progress would benefit the underprivileged above all others, but in reality it is oftener the case that the townspeople are more disposed to consent to radical change; their frenetic environment fosters a sort of flightiness that must be appeased by resorting to anything which resembles a novelty. All of this is a requisite for large towns, for the intricate connection of enterprises, occupations and maintenances requires all citizens to have a tractable disposition, lest everything collapse by the idleness of the obdurate mind. Peasants, however, live by the old ways. Nay, even if they be destitute or famished, they shall nevertheless not fail to adhere to those values which they and their antecedents have always esteemed, because that is how they have always lived, and shall always live. Their environment is serene, and they need not follow novelty to maintain their livelihoods. If one imprisons an animal for a protracted period of time, it shall eventually forgo the taste of freedom. And so these former slaves – for that is essentially what they were four years ago – have become dependent on the fetters, and cannot continue to endure without complete subservience.”
― Mike IJzerman, Revelation

“Seeking to bury the oppressed conscience of my mind, I have languished in the durance of my heart. For I knew not that I could not bury the past, and I comprehended not that the memory of our errs are made to vex us whithersoever we go. But all our chapters must close insofar as God allows us to close them, and this is one which cannot remain incomplete as long as I draw breath.”
― Mike IJzerman, The Broken Reed

“You speak of the future? I know no future. I know no present. All I know is a small sphere founded upon the past; a sphere that is immutable and sacred; a sphere which brooks no baneful novelties, but contents itself with an antiquated sense of order.”
― Mike IJzerman, Redemption

“Impetuosity is a redoubtable vow-breaker.”
― Mike IJzerman, The Broken Reed

“Courting women is different now; the gallant kisses upon her hand, the erect and dignified postures of the men, the resplendent military uniforms, the subtle and decorous innuendos of speech, the refined and verbose laudations… all vanished with the wind. Shall that chivalric spirit ever return? I know not, but I do yearn for it…”
― Mike IJzerman, Redemption

“Carnal reason doth oft inadvertently rebel against things which to us seem improbable, even if it was thus ordained before we e’er stirred in our mother’s wombs.”
― Mike IJzerman, The Broken Reed

“Let us be reasonable, so that we may have the right to be miserable.”
― Mike IJzerman, Resurrection

“Mine eyes had beheld the quintessence of beauty, and memory ensured that I would then remain a prisoner to the vanity of vision.”
― Mike IJzerman, The Broken Reed

“His profligate affairs prevented him from becoming conscious of his own depravity, for conscience defers its potency when pleasure requires satiation.”
― Mike IJzerman, Revelation