M.attie

@M.attie, member from March 18, 2022
Henry Miller photo

“I see myself forever and ever as the ridiculous [person], the lonely soul, the wanderer, the restless frustrated artist, the [person] in love with love, always in search of the absolute, always seeking the unattainable.”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist

Source: Stand Still Like the Hummingbird

Henry Miller photo

“Day by day. No yesterdays and no tomorrows. The barometer never changes, the flag is always at half-mast.”

Henry Miller book Tropic of Cancer

Source: Tropic of Cancer

Henry Miller photo

“My hunger and curiosity drive me forward in all directions at once.”

Henry Miller book Plexus

Source: The Rosy Crucifixion II: Plexus (1953), p. 61

Henry Miller photo

“I have always looked upon decay as being just as wonderful and rich an expression of life as growth.”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist
Henry Miller photo

“I made up my mind that I would hold onto nothing, that I would expect nothing.”

Henry Miller book Tropic of Cancer

Source: Tropic of Cancer

Henry Miller photo

“have you ever seen a genius out there looking for a job? it's the saddest thing in the world. no one will hire him. there is only one place where he is always welcome- at the bottom.”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist
Henry Miller photo

“To have her here in bed with me, breathing on me, her hair in my mouth—I count that something of a miracle.”

Henry Miller book Tropic of Cancer

Source: Tropic of Cancer

Henry Miller photo

“Everywhere I go people are making a mess of their lives. Everyone has his private tragedy. It's in the blood now - misfortune, ennui, grief, suicide. The atmosphere is saturated with disaster, frustration, futility. Scratch and scratch, until there's no skin left. However, the effect upon me is exhilarating. Instead of being discouraged or depressed, I enjoy it. I am crying for more and more disasters, for bigger calamities, grander failures. I want the whole world to be out of whack, I want every one to scratch himself to death.”

Henry Miller book Tropic of Cancer

Source: Tropic of Cancer (1934), Chapter One
Context: Well, I'll take these pages and move on. Things are happening elsewhere. Things are always happening. It seems wherever I go there is drama. People are like lice - they get under your skin and bury themselves there. You scratch and scratch until the blood comes, but you can't get permanently deloused. Everywhere I go people are making a mess of their lives. Everyone has his private tragedy. It's in the blood now - misfortune, ennui, grief, suicide. The atmosphere is saturated with disaster, frustration, futility. Scratch and scratch, until there's no skin left. However, the effect upon me is exhilarating. Instead of being discouraged or depressed, I enjoy it. I am crying for more and more disasters, for bigger calamities, grander failures. I want the whole world to be out of whack, I want every one to scratch himself to death.

Henry Miller photo

“She was to me, and still is, the greatest person I have known - one who can truly be called a "devoted" soul. I owe her everything.”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist

Letters of Henry Miller and Wallace Fowlie (1975)

Henry Miller photo

“It is with the soul that we grasp the essence of another person, not with the mind, not even with the heart.”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist

Variant: It is with the soul that we grasp the essence of another human being, not with the mind, nor even with the heart.