“To the pure soul by Fancy's fire refined,
Ah, what is mirth but turbulence unholy,
When with the charm compared of heavenly melancholy.”
Book i. Stanza 55.
The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)
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James Beattie 18
Scottish poet, moralist and philosopher 1735–1803Related quotes
Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 29, Song, st. 1.
Life Without and Life Within (1859), A Greeting
"Brother Zachariah said pretty much the same thing. Maybe with less sarcasm."
Clary Fray and Jace Herondale, pg. 100-101
Source: The Mortal Instruments, City of Heavenly Fire (2014)
Source: The Ascent to Truth (1951), Ch. X : Reason in the Life of Contemplation, p. 114.
Context: One might compare the journey of the soul to mystical union, by way of pure faith, to the journey of a car on a dark highway. The only way the driver can keep to the road is by using his headlights. So in the mystical life, reason has its function. The way of faith is necessarily obscure. We drive by night. Nevertheless our reason penetrates the darkness enough to show us a little of the road ahead. It is by the light of reason that we interpret the signposts and make out the landmarks along our way.
Those who misunderstand Saint John of the Cross imagine that the way of nada is like driving by night, without any headlights whatever. This is a dangerous misunderstanding of the saint's doctrine.
Book i. Stanza 7.
The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)
“All charming people, I fancy, are spoiled. It is the secret of their attraction.”
"The Portrait of Mr. W. H.," Blackwood's Magazine, July 1889 http://books.google.com/books?id=QfczAQAAMAAJ&q=%22All+charming+people+I+fancy+are+spoiled+It+is+the+secret+of+their+attraction%22&pg=PA4#v=onepage
Dress to Kill (1998)
Source: Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill
Context: I had to chat up girls, and I'd only tagged them before. I didn't have the verbal power to be able to say, "Susan, I saw you in the classroom today. As the sun came from behind the clouds, a burst of brilliant light caught your hair, it was haloed in front of me. You turned, your eyes flashed fire into my soul, I immediately read the words of Dostoevsky and Karl Marx, and in the words of Albert Schweitzer, 'I fancy you.' " But no! At 13, you're just going, " 'Ello, Sue. I saw you in the room... I've got legs, have you? Oh yeah... Do you like bread? I've got a French loaf. [mimes smacking her with the loaf and dashing off] Bye! (I love you!)"
