“I can't even enjoy a blade of grass unless I know there's a subway handy, or a record store or some other sign that people do not totallylife. It's more important to confirm the least sincere. The clouds get enough attention as it is…”

—  Frank O'Hara

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I can't even enjoy a blade of grass unless I know there's a subway handy, or a record store or some other sign that peo…" by Frank O'Hara?
Frank O'Hara photo
Frank O'Hara28
American poet, art critic and writer 1926–1966

Related quotes

Sophie Kinsella photo

“I can't get over this. Dad isn't Sam's dad? Dad is a friend? How was I supposed to know that? People shouldn't be allowed to sign themselves as Dad unless they are your dad. It should be the law.”

Sophie Kinsella book I've Got Your Number

Source: I've Got Your Number

Henry Miller photo

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist

Jack Kerouac photo

“After all this kind of fanfare, and even more, I came to a point where I needed solitude and to just stop the machine of 'thinking' and 'enjoying' what they call 'living,' I just wanted to lie in the grass and look at the clouds…”

Jack Kerouac book Lonesome Traveler

Variant: I came to a point where I needed solitude and just stop the machine of ‘thinking’ and ‘enjoying’ what they call ‘living’, I just wanted to lie in the grass and look at the clouds.
Source: Lonesome Traveler

Larry Wall photo

“But I know what's important to me, and what isn't. And I think I know what people can get used to, and what they can even learn to like. (It just takes some people longer than others. :-)”

Larry Wall (1954) American computer programmer and author, creator of Perl

Usenet postings, 1998

Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“And the other thing is that it causes one to engage ultimately in activities that are merely used to get attention. Criminologists tell us that some people are driven to crime because of this drum major instinct. They don't feel that they are getting enough attention through the normal channels of social behavior, and so they turn to anti-social behavior in order to get attention, in order to feel important. And so they get that gun, and before they know it they robbed a bank in a quest for recognition, in a quest for importance.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1960s, The Drum Major Instinct (1968)

Daniel Salamanca photo

“In some grocery stores there is an expressive sign that says: Today I don't trust, tomorrow I do. I have some desire to compare that sign the promises of happiness that life gives us.”

Daniel Salamanca (1863–1935) President of Bolivia (1863-1935)

Mike Oldfield photo

“I'm half a crazy man
Waiting for confirmation;
Signs keep are changing
And I need some more information.”

Mike Oldfield (1953) English musician, multi-instrumentalist

Song lyrics, Discovery (1984)

Daniel Bell photo

“When a person is confirmed by others, there has to be some sign of recognition.”

Daniel Bell book The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism

Source: The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (1976), Chapter 2, The Disjunction of Cultural Discourse, p. 90

Anne Murray photo

“If you think asking for help betrays weakness, get over it. In fact, it’s just the opposite. It’s a sign that you’re confident enough to admit that other people may know more than you know or can do things better than you can.”

Anne Murray (1945) Canadian singer

On asking for help
Mount Saint Vincent University speech (2016)

“It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here.”

Edward Abbey (1927–1989) American author and essayist

Quoted in Saving Nature's Legacy : Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity (1994) by Reed F. Noss, Allen Y. Cooperrider, and Rodger Schlickeisen, p. 338
Context: One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast... a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.

Related topics