Source: The Complete Fairy Tales
Source: The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discourse on Language
Source: Arch of Triumph: A Novel of a Man Without a Country
Nick Adams of "Fathers and Sons" in Winner Take Nothing (1932)
Sparks
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part XIV - Higgledy-Piggledy
Letter to Paul Dukas (1901)
Context: I confess that I am no longer thinking in musical terms, or at least not much, even though I believe with all my heart that Music remains for all time the finest means of expression we have. It’s just that I find the actual pieces — whether they’re old or modern, which is in any case merely a matter of dates — so totally poverty-stricken, manifesting an inability to see beyond the work-table. They smell of the lamp, not of the sun. And then, overshadowing everything, there’s the desire to amaze one’s colleagues with arresting harmonies, quite unnecessary for the most part. In short, these days especially, music is devoid of emotional impact. I feel that, without descending to the level of the gossip column or the novel, it should be possible to solve the problem somehow. There’s no need either for music to make people think! … It would be enough if music could make people listen, despite themselves and despite their petty mundane troubles, and never mind if they’re incapable of expressing anything resembling an opinion. It would be enough if they could no longer recognize their own grey, dull faces, if they felt that for a moment they had been dreaming of an imaginary country, that’s to say, one that can’t be found on the map.
Jón of Skagi
Brekkukotsannáll (The Fish Can Sing) (1957)
Whole Earth Discipline (2009), page 216.
Quotes in: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Budget (2012). Concurrent Resolution on the Budget Fiscal Year 2013. p. 95
Variant: Clocks slay time... time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.
Source: The Sound and the Fury (1929)
