“I am the dreamer and the doer
I the hearer and the knower
I the giver and the taker
I the sword and the wound of sword.
If this be true, then let sword fall free from hand.
I embrace myself.
I laugh until I weep
And weep until I smile…”
Christ, Old Student in a New School (1972)
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Ray Bradbury401
American writer 1920–2012Related quotes
“I find it rude to laugh at a man with a sword.”
Derek Landy (1974) Irish children's writer
Source: Mortal Coil
Al-Mutanabbi (915–965) Arabic poet from the Abbasid era
From the poem "To Sayf Al-Dawla" <br class="br">Here 'Sword never sheathed' refers to 'Sayf Al-Dawla', whose name is a laqab meaning 'Sword of the Dynasty'. http://samarmedia.tv/en/video/295/al-mutanabi-arabic-poem-with-english/
“I hasten to laugh at everything, for fear of being obliged to weep.”
Pierre Beaumarchais book The Barber of Seville
Je me presse de rire de tout, de peur d'être obligé d'en pleurer.
Act I, scene ii
Variant translations:
I quickly laugh at everything, for fear of having to cry.
I force myself to laugh at everything, for fear of having to cry.
Le Barbier de Séville (1773)
“I have often seen an actor laugh off the stage, but I don’t remember ever having seen one weep.”
Denis Diderot (1713–1784) French Enlightenment philosopher and encyclopædist
"Paradox on Acting" (1830), as quoted in Selected Writings (1966) edited by Lester G. Crocker