Horizontal Quotes

“It is not normal for a body to remain horizontal; beyond a certain length of time it attracts concern. Death and burial ('laid to rest') are seen as the natural horizontal states, which is surely why the calculated falsity of perpendicular deaths, such as hangings, crucifixions, burnings at the stakes, etc. produce such indelible shock.”
― Murray Bail, Eucalyptus

“Live vertically, not horizontally.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“He talked to her endlessly about his love of horizontals: how they, the great levels of sky and land in Lincolnshire, meant to him the eternality of the will, just as the bowed Norman arches of the church, repeating themselves, meant the dogged leaping forward of the persistent human soul, on and on, nobody knows where; in contradiction to the perpendicular lines and to the Gothic arch, which, he said, leapt up at heaven and touched the ecstasy and lost itself in the divine.”
― D.H.Lawrence, Sons & Lovers

“Bed and laziness are good friends, they often like to hang out late at noon.”
― Alain Bremond-Torrent, running is flying intermittently

“I’m still in bed writing this, lying on my back like an omelette in a pan.”
― Alain Bremond-Torrent, running is flying intermittently

“Leaders should have the ability to interpret things in vertical and horizontal aspects”
― Dr. Lucas D. Shallua

“But is not Christ a general direction? asked the elder. What other kind of direction do you seek? And how do you even understand the journey anyway? As the vast expanses you left behind? You made it to Jerusalem with your questions, though you could have asked them from the Kirillov Monastery. I am not saying wandering is useless there is a point to it. Do not become like your beloved Alexander who had a journey but had no goal. And do not be enamored of excessive horizontal motion.

Then what should I be enamored of? asked Arseny.

Vertical motion, answered the elder, pointing above.”
― Eugene Vodolazkin, Laurus

“Firewall Kesedihan yang Tidak Bisa Ditembus (Posthuman Alt. Version 5.0)

Kesedihan menghentikanku
di ambang—antarmuka
yang menolak memuat dirinya
sebagai memori retak.

Jurang di hadapanku
adalah server gelap
yang menelan amarah
sebagai syntax error.

Aku mengabaikan perintah;
walau telah di-root
seperti komputer tua
menolak reboot.

Yang aku mau adalah:
menjadi sebuah menara gereja
yang menyala seperti sinyal nirkabel, atau gapura tua yang tetap bertahan meski di-scan ribuan kali
oleh penglihatan yang tidak mengenali kaca matanya sendiri.

Setiap gerbang
mengarahkan algoritmaku
kembali ke rumah ibu—
kerinduan yang menetes
seperti paket data yang bocor.

Tidak ada yang berubah,
hanya versiku yang lain
yang terus memperbarui diri
tanpa permisi.

Mimpi lelaki perkasa
yang terbang ke bulan
dengan kuda ego yang ia optimasi
dari imajinasi.
Sekalipun absurd:
kesedihan hampir menjadikanku
bug dalam diriku sendiri.

Hidup bukan fitur mewah.
Kebahagiaan bukan update terbaru.

Yang kupunya hanya pilihan—
dan Tuhan (bukan),
ia adalah Stack Developer
yang memproses kehadiran-nya
dalam format data
yang paling rendah:
sebatang lilin,
dengan cahaya
yang gagal render.

November 2025”
― Titon Rahmawan