Mark Fox

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
― Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..”
― Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays

“Give up all the wild ideas that buzz round you like wasps. Or like bluebottles. […] Find a nice, ordinary girl, not too attractive or you’ll be jealous all the time, not too bright or you’ll be anxious all the time, not too rich or you’ll have nothing to strive for, not too original or she’ll upset people. There are plenty of them, and all of them are available to a young postman like you. Those are the terms offered.”

The terrier had come to a sudden standstill, as if he had been a white gun dog on one of the estates.

“You don’t live like that,” said Robin from the bed.

“I don’t live at all,” replied Rosetta. “Haven’t you realized?”

“Perhaps I have.” Now Robin was staring at her: momentarily still that muggy evening; for seconds rigid as the dog.

Rosetta smiled. “I am the person every postman meets in the end.”

“I’m a provisional postman only. I told you that clearly,” remarked Robin, starting once more to relax.

“Do what I tell you. What else is there for you? Only wasps and bluebottles.”
― Robert Aickman