xy

“The real purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its own thinking.”

Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet

“High heels were invented by a woman who had been kissed on the forehead.”

Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet

“That's what this country needs -- more books!”

Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet

“All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful, but the beauty is grim.”

Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet

“There is only one success … to be able to spend your life in your own way.”

Christopher Morley Where the Blue Begins

“No man is lonely while eating spaghetti:
it requires so much attention.”

Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet

“If we discovered that we had only five minutes left to say all that we wanted to say, every telephone booth would be occupied by people calling other people to stammer that they loved them.”

Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet

“When you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.”

Christopher Morley book Parnassus on Wheels

“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.”

Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet

“Blessed are they who, setting aside their own pleasure and inclination, consider things according to reason and justice before doing them.”

John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish mystic and Roman Catholic saint

“We shall go at once
To the deep caverns of the rock
Which are all secret,
There we shall enter in
And taste of the new wine of the pomegranate. ~ 37”

John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish mystic and Roman Catholic saint

“The breathing of the air,
The song of the sweet nightingale,
The grove and its beauty
In the serene night,
With the flame that consumes, and gives no pains. ~ 39”

John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish mystic and Roman Catholic saint

“Upon my flowery breast
Kept wholly for Himself alone
There He stayed sleeping
And I caressed Him
And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.

The breeze blew from the turret as I parted His locks.
With His gentle hand He wounded my neck
And caused all my senses to be suspended.”

John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish mystic and Roman Catholic saint

“Deny your desires and you will find what your heart longs for. For how do you know if any desire of yours is according to God?”

John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish mystic and Roman Catholic saint

“In the happy night, In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught, Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart.”

John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish mystic and Roman Catholic saint

“I have said this to explain the stanza that follows, in which the soul replies to those who call in question its holy tranquillity, who will have it wholly occupied with outward duties, that its light may shine before the world: these persons have no conception of the fibres and the unseen root whence the sap is drawn, and which nourish the fruit.”

John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish mystic and Roman Catholic saint

“The very pure spirit does not bother about the regard of others or human respect, but communes inwardly with God, alone and in solitude as to all forms, and with delightful tranquility, for the knowledge of God is received in divine silence.”

John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish mystic and Roman Catholic saint

“Worldly people are in the habit of censuring those who give themselves up in earnest to God, regarding them as extravagant, in their withdrawal from the world, and in their manner of life. They say also of them that they are useless for all matters of importance, and lost to everything the world prizes and respects! This reproach the soul meets in the best way; boldly and courageously despising it with everything else that the world can lay to its charge. Having attained to a living love of God, it makes little account of all this; and that is not all: it confesses it itself in this stanza, and boasts that it has committed that folly, and that it is lost to the world and to itself for the Beloved.”

John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish mystic and Roman Catholic saint

“O crystal well!
Oh that on Thy silvered surface
Thou wouldest mirror forth at once
Those eyes desired
Which are outlined in my heart! ~ 12”

John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish mystic and Roman Catholic saint