J

“The literary classics are a haven for that part of us that broods over mortal bewilderments, over suffering and death and fleeting happiness. They are a refuge for our secret self that wishes to contemplate the precious singularity of our physical world, that seeks out the expression of feelings too prismatic for rational articulation. They are places of quiet, useless stillness in a world that despises any activity that is not profitable or productive.

Literary art’s sudden, startling truth and beauty make us feel, in the most solitary part of us, that we are not alone, and that there are meanings that cannot be bought, sold or traded, that do not decay and die. This socially and economically worthless experience is called transcendence, and you cannot assign a paper, or a grade, or an academic rank, on that. Literature is too sacred to be taught. It needs only to be read….”
― Lee Siegel, Why Argument Matters

“Love is incapable of being concealed; a word, a look, nay, silence, speaks it.”
― Peter Abelard and Héloïse, Letters of Abelard and Heloise

“Truth is for tailors and shoemakers. ... I, on the contrary, have always held that the Lord has a penchant for masquerades.”
― Isak Dinesen, Seven Gothic Tales

“I know of nothing more difficult than knowing who you are, and having the courage to share the reasons for the catastrophe of your character with the world.”
― William H. Gass