Upon finishing a book, I write some of my favorite lines down in what is known as a commonplace book. It is essentially a journal filled with excerpts from books that made an impression on me. These are my favorite quotes from The History of Love that I will soon be adding to it.
“Her kiss was a question I wanted to spend my whole life answering"
“With each day that passes, he’s blinded a little less by the beauty of the world”
“What does a book need with a title unless someone is going to read it”
“The words of our childhood became strangers to us- we couldn’t use them in the same way and so we chose not to use them at all. Life demanded a new language.”
“I know there is a moral to this story but I don’t know what it is”
“To paint a leaf, you have to sacrifice the whole landscape. It might seem like you’re limiting yourself at first, but after a while you realize that having a quarter-of-an-inch of something you have a better chance of holding on to a certain feeling of the universe than if you pretended to be doing the whole sky”
“It’s one of those unforgettable moments that happens as a child, when you discover that all along the world has been betraying you.”
“The oldest emotion in the world may be that of being moved; but to describe it-just to make it-must have been like trying to catch something invisible.”
“Those used to being overheard by everyone were often at a loss for how to make themselves heard by someone.”
“It took seven languages to make me; it would be nice if I could have spoken just one. But I couldn’t, so he leaned down and kissed me.”
It's interesting how many of the quotes you've selected relate, in some way, to art or the crafting of literature. I love the second quote. In its context, do you view it is a positive or a negative change?
ReplyDeleteThe quote is from Leo's first chapter titled "The Last Words on Earth." In the scene Leo is scanning the bookshelves of the man whose lock he just fixed. He comes across one called Glass Houses which is written by his son, Isaac. In the story, there is a very old angel who everyday talks to God, waits for a response, and ventures into the real world. He is the one who is said to be blinded less each day as he sees more of reality and turns against God. I see it as a negative change because of his declining faith. However, in other contexts, this quote could be positive, such as if it were describing someone gaining a greater understanding of the world and coming to a profound realization.
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