“How shall we pass most swiftly from point to point, and be present always at the focus where the greatest number of vital forces unite in their purest energy. To burn always with this hard, gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life.”
Conclusion <br class="br"> The Renaissance http://www.authorama.com/renaissance-1.html (1873) <br class="br">Context: Not the fruit of experience, but experience itself, is the end. A counted number of pulses only is given to us of a variegated, dramatic life. How may we see in them all that is to to be seen in them by the finest senses? How shall we pass most swiftly from point to point, and be present always at the focus where the greatest number of vital forces unite in their purest energy. To burn always with this hard, gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life.
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Walter Pater11
essayist, art and literature critic, fiction writer 1839–1894Related quotes
Elia M. Ramollah (1973) founder and leader of the El Yasin Community
The Great Master of Thought (Amen- Vol.3), Observing management
“I’m always interested in finding ways to innovate …. It’s a blend; it’s not a point focus.”
Paul Allen (1953–2018) American inventor, investor and philanthropist
The Seattle Times: "Passion for arts and science drives Paul Allen’s eclectic approach" https://www.seattletimes.com/business/passion-for-arts-and-science-drives-paul-allens-eclectic-approach/ (29 July 2007)
Jack Johnson (musician) (1975) American musician
Better Together.
Song lyrics, In Between Dreams (2005)
Frederick Brotherton Meyer (1847–1929) English Baptist pastor and evangelist
The Secret of Guidance (1896)
Sophie Scholl (1921–1943) White Rose member
As quoted in O<sub>2</sub> : Breathing New Life Into Faith (2008) by Richard Dahlstrom, Ch. 4 : Artisans of Hope: Stepping into God's Kingdom Story, p. 63; this source is disputed as it does not cite an original document for the quote. It is also used in <i> The White Rose </i> (1991) by Lillian Garrett-Groag, a monologue during Sophie's interrogation.
Disputed
Context: The real damage is done by those millions who want to "survive." The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don't want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won't take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don't like to make waves — or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It's the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you'll keep it under control. If you don't make any noise, the bogeyman won't find you. But it's all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.
“We always did feel the same, we just saw it from a different point of view…”
Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist
Song lyrics, Blood on the Tracks (1975), Tangled Up In Blue
Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) English novelist (1815-1882)
Speech at the opening of an art exhibition at Bolton Mechanics' Institution (7 December 1868)