Quotes about eye
page 21

Dan Fogelberg photo
Julie Newmar photo
Peter Wentz photo
Anne Sexton photo

“Why have your eyes gone into their own room?”

"Your Face on the Dog's Neck"
Live or Die (1966)

Henryk Sienkiewicz photo
Edgar Rice Burroughs photo

“Tarzan of the Apes had decided to mark his evolution from the lower orders in every possible manner, and nothing seemed to him a more distinguishing badge of manhood than ornaments and clothing.
To this end, therefore, he collected the various arm and leg ornaments he had taken from the black warriors who had succumbed to his swift and silent noose, and donned them all after the way he had seen them worn.
About his neck hung the golden chain from which depended the diamond encrusted locket of his mother, the Lady Alice. At his back was a quiver of arrows slung from a leathern shoulder belt, another piece of loot from some vanquished black.
About his waist was a belt of tiny strips of rawhide fashioned by himself as a support for the home-made scabbard in which hung his father's hunting knife. The long bow which had been Kulonga's hung over his left shoulder.
The young Lord Greystoke was indeed a strange and war-like figure, his mass of black hair falling to his shoulders behind and cut with his hunting knife to a rude bang upon his forehead, that it might not fall before his eyes.
His straight and perfect figure, muscled as the best of the ancient Roman gladiators must have been muscled, and yet with the soft and sinuous curves of a Greek god, told at a glance the wondrous combination of enormous strength with suppleness and speed.”

Source: Tarzan of the Apes (1912), Ch. 13 : His Own Kind

Kazimir Malevich photo

“There is movement and movement. There are movements of small tension and movements of great tension and there is also a movement which our eyes cannot catch although it can be felt. In art this state is called dynamic movement. This special movement was discovered by the futurists as a new and hitherto unknown phenomenon in art, a phenomenon which some Futurists were delighted to reflect.”

Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935) Russian and Soviet artist of polish descent

Quote c. 1915, in: 'Cubofuturism', Malevich, in his Essays on Art, op. cit., vol 2; as quoted in Futurism, ed. By Didier Ottinger; Centre Pompidou / 5 Continents Editions, Milan, 2008, p. 59
1910 - 1920

Paul McCartney photo
Nicholas of Cusa photo
James Thomson (poet) photo
Rufus Wainwright photo
Austin Grossman photo
Thomas Fuller (writer) photo
Seneca the Younger photo

“Of course, however, the living voice and the intimacy of a common life will help you more than the written word. You must go to the scene of action, first, because men put more faith in their eyes than in their ears, and second, because the way is long if one follows precepts, but short and helpful, if one follows patterns.”
Plus tamen tibi et viva vox et convictus quam oratio proderit; in rem praesentem venias oportet, primum quia homines amplius oculis quam auribus credunt, deinde quia longum iter est per praecepta, breve et efficax per exempla.

Seneca the Younger (-4–65 BC) Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist

Alternate translation: Teaching by precept is a long road, but short and beneficial is the way by example.
Source: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter VI: On precepts and exemplars, Line 5.

Amit Chaudhuri photo

“… he sang with his eyes squeezed tight, as if he were dropping from a great height.”

Amit Chaudhuri (1962) contemporary Indian-English novelist

The Immortals (2009)

Rudyard Kipling photo
F. Anstey photo

““Thou hast heard of her incomparable charms, and verily the ear may love before the eye.”
”It may,” admitted Horace, “but neither of my ears is the least in love at present.””

F. Anstey (1856–1934) English novelist and journalist

Source: The Brass Bottle (1900), Chapter 14, “Since There’s No Help, Come, Let Us Kiss and Part!”

John Masefield photo
Marianne von Werefkin photo
Burt Ward photo
Norman MacLeod (1812–1872) photo
Alain photo
Robert Louis Stevenson photo
George William Russell photo
Arthur Koestler photo
Robert E. Howard photo
Leo Tolstoy photo
Jorge Luis Borges photo
Henry Scott Holland photo
Kenneth Grahame photo
Robert A. Heinlein photo
Roger Ebert photo
Aldo Palazzeschi photo
Janeane Garofalo photo

“Red flag of the eating disorder: the muffin. Keep your eye on the ladies with the muffins…and sometimes I'll just eat the muffin top.”

Janeane Garofalo (1964) comedian, actress, political activist, writer

self-titled TV comedy special, 1997
Standup routines

Dido photo
John Updike photo
Van Morrison photo
Annie Besant photo
Neal Stephenson photo
John Ruysbroeck photo
Sarah Grimké photo
Ann Coulter photo

“Democrats cannot conceive of "hate speech" towards Christians because, in their eyes, Christians always deserve it.”

Ann Coulter (1961) author, political commentator

Source: 2006, Godless : The Church of Liberalism (2006), p. 21.

Norodom Sihanouk photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Bobby Troup photo
Vitruvius photo
Mason Weems photo

“Feeling that the silver chord of life is loosing, and that his spirit is ready to quit her old companion the body, he extends himself on his bed — closes his eyes for the last time, with his own hands — folds his arms decently on his breast, then breathing out "Father of mercies! take me to thyself," — he fell asleep. Swift on angels' wings the brightening saint ascended; while voices more than human were heard (in Fancy's ear) warbling through the happy regions, and hymning the great procession towards the gates of heaven. His glorious coming was seen far off, and myriads of mighty angels hastened forth, with golden harps, to welcome the honored stranger.”

Mason Weems (1759–1825) fictionalizing biographer of George Washington

Description of Washington's death in Life of Washington (1800); this fanciful account bears no relation to the report of Washington's last words by his personal secretary Tobias Lear, who wrote in his journal (14 December 1799) http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/project/exhibit/mourning/lear.html: About ten o'clk he made several attempts to speak to me before he could effect it, at length he said, — "I am just going. Have me decently buried; and do not let my body be put into the Vault in less than three days after I am dead." I bowed assent, for I could not speak. He then looked at me again and said, "Do you understand me? I replied "Yes." "Tis well" said he.

Amit Chaudhuri photo
Nikos Kazantzakis photo
Robert Charles Wilson photo
Paul Simon photo

“In my little town
I grew up believing
God keeps his eye on us all.”

Paul Simon (1941) American musician, songwriter and producer

My Little Town, written with Simon Garfunkle
Song lyrics, Still Crazy After All These Years (1975)

Julia Caroline Dorr photo
Rāmabhadrācārya photo

“O the one who is as dear as life to Rāma, O the delightful one, O the power of Rāma, O the one with eyes like lotuses, O queen, O Sītā, grant me the most beautiful devotion towards Rāma. ॥ 14.28 ॥”

Rāmabhadrācārya (1950) Hindu religious leader

rāmaprāṇapriye rāme rame rājīvalocane ।
rāhi rājñi ratiṃ ramyāṃ rāme rājani rāghave ॥
Śrībhārgavarāghavīyam

Lord Dunsany photo
Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo
Sri Aurobindo photo

“There are moments when the Spirit moves among men and the breath of the Lord is abroad upon the waters of our being; there are others when it retires and men are left to act in the strength or the weakness of their own egoism. The first are periods when even a little effort produces great results and changes destiny; the second are spaces of time when much labour goes to the making of a little result. It is true that the latter may prepare the former, may be the little smoke of sacrifice going up to heaven which calls down the rain of God's bounty…. Unhappy is the man or the nation which, when the divine moment arrives, is found sleeping or unprepared to use it, because the lamp has not been kept trimmed for the welcome and the ears are sealed to the call. But thrice woe to them who are strong and ready, yet waste the force or misuse the moment; for them is irreparable loss or a great destruction…. In the hour of God cleanse thy soul of all self-deceit and hypocrisy and vain self-flattering that thou mayst look straight into thy spirit and hear that which summons it. All insincerity of nature, once thy defence against the eye of the Master and the light of the ideal, becomes now a gap in thy armour and invites the blow. Even if thou conquer for the moment, it is the worse for thee, for the blow shall come afterwards and cast thee down in the midst of thy triumph. But being pure cast aside all fear; for the hour is often terrible, a fire and a whirlwind and a tempest, a treading of the winepress of the wrath of God; but he who can stand up in it on the truth of his purpose is he who shall stand; even though he fall, he shall rise again; even though he seem to pass on the wings of the wind, he shall return. Nor let worldly prudence whisper too closely in thy ear; for it is the hour of the unexpected, the incalculable, the immeasurable. Mete not the power of the Breath by thy petty instruments, but trust and go forward…. But most keep thy soul clear, even if for a while, of the clamour of the ego. Then shall a fire march before thee in the night and the storm be thy helper and thy flag shall wave on the highest height of the greatness that was to be conquered.”

Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru and poet

1918 (The Hour of God)
India's Rebirth

“A man was wise if heavy and tardy, like all phlegmatic temperaments; learned if he wrote books with one eye on the public and the other on his colleague.”

Oscar Levy (1867–1946) German physician and writer

describing the state of Germans in the 19th century, pp. 82-83.
The Revival of Aristocracy (1906)

Mani Madhava Chakyar photo
Mani Madhava Chakyar photo

““the greatest eye-wizard of the world!”
- Stella Kramrisch - Curator of Indian Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA, c1980”

Mani Madhava Chakyar (1899–1990) Indian actor

Source: Abhinaya and Netrābhinaya, p. 299, Das Bhargavinilayam, Mani Madhaveeyam http://www.kerala.gov.in/dept_culture/books.htm(biography of Mani Madhava Chakyar), Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala, 1999, ISBN 81-86365-78-8

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet photo

“Honor is like the eye, which cannot suffer the least impurity without damage. It is a precious stone, the price of which is lessened by a single flaw.”

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627–1704) French bishop and theologian

Quoted in "The Forbes Book of Business Quotations" (1997) by Edward C. Goodman, Ted Goodman , p. 411

William Hogarth photo
Thomas Robert Malthus photo
Karel Čapek photo
Charles Cooley photo
Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo
Bob Seger photo
Donald E. Westlake photo

“Eyes wide and blank as the buttons on a first Communion coat.”

Donald E. Westlake (1933–2008) American novelist

Ask the Parrot (2006), using the pseudonym Richard Stark

Bob Dylan photo

“You put your eyes in your pockets and your nose on the ground.”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Song lyrics, Highway 61 Revisited (1965), Ballad of a Thin Man

Edward Thomson photo
Eugen Drewermann photo
Thomas Moore photo

“Man for his glory
To ancestry flies;
But Woman's bright story
Is told in her eyes.”

Thomas Moore (1779–1852) Irish poet, singer and songwriter

Desmond's Song, st. 4
Irish Melodies http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/moore.html (1807–1834)

Joseph Joubert photo
Gerhard Richter photo
Pierre Louis Maupertuis photo
Thomas Carlyle photo

“… I must say, it [the Koran] is as toilsome reading as I ever undertook. A wearisome confused jumble, crude, incondite; endless iterations, long-windedness, entanglement; most crude, incondite; — insupportable stupidity, in short! Nothing but a sense of duty could carry any European through the Koran … It is the confused ferment of a great rude human soul; rude, untutored, that cannot even read; but fervent, earnest, struggling vehemently to utter itself in words … We said "stupid:" yet natural stupidity is by no means the character of Mahomet's Book; it is natural uncultivation rather. The man has not studied speaking; in the haste and pressure of continual fighting, has not time to mature himself into fit speech … The man was an uncultured semi-barbarous Son of Nature, much of the Bedouin still clinging to him: we must take him for that. But for a wretched Simulacrum, a hungry Impostor without eyes or heart … we will not and cannot take him. Sincerity, in all senses, seems to me the merit of the Koran; what had rendered it precious to the wild Arab men … Curiously, through these incondite masses of tradition, vituperation, complaint, ejaculation in the Koran, a vein of true direct insight, of what we might almost call poetry, is found straggling.”

Thomas Carlyle, "On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History" (1841), pg. 64-67
1840s

Alex Salmond photo
Neil Diamond photo
Harry Turtledove photo

“The crowd of ragged Confederates on the White House lawn had doubled and more since he went in to confer with Lincoln. The trees were full of men who had climbed up so they could see over their comrades. Off in the distance, cannon occasionally still thundered; rifles popped like firecrackers. Lee quietly said to Lincoln, "Will you send out your sentries under flag of truce to bring word of the armistice to those Federal positions still firing upon my men?" "I'll see to it," Lincoln promised. He pointed to the soldiers in gray, who had quieted expectantly when Lee came out. "Looks like you've given me sentries enough, even if their coats are the wrong color." Few men could have joked so with their cause in ruins around them. Respecting the Federal President for his composure, Lee raised his voice: "Soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia, after three years of arduous service, we have achieved that for which we took up arms-" He got no further. With one voice, the men before him screamed out their joy and relief. The unending waves of noise beat at him like a surf from a stormy sea. Battered forage caps and slouch hats flew through the air. Soldiers jumped up and down, pounded on one another's shoulders, danced in clumsy rings, kissed each other's bearded, filthy faces. Lee felt his own eyes grow moist. At last the magnitude of what he had won began to sink in.”

Source: The Guns of the South (1992), p. 180

Isaac Watts photo

“But, children, you should never let
Such angry passions rise;
Your little hands were never made
To tear each other's eyes.”

Isaac Watts (1674–1748) English hymnwriter, theologian and logician

Song 16: "Against Quarrelling and Fighting".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

Gabrielle Roy photo
Mehdi Akhavan-Sales photo

“The breath coming out of your chest
Turns into a dark cloud
And stands like a wall
In front of your eyes”

Mehdi Akhavan-Sales (1928–1990) Iranian poet

Cited in: Newsweek (2009). Vol. 153-154. p. 548

Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo

“On a bough,
The only one chained by the honeysuckle,
Sat two white Doves, upon each neck a tint
Like the rose-stain within the delicate shell
Of the sea-pearl, as Love breathed on their plumes.
And each was mirror'd in the other's eyes,
Floating and dark, a paradise of passion.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

(10th May 1823) Poetical Catalogue of Paintings - Two Doves in a Grove. Mr. Glover's Exhibition.
24th May 1823) Inez see The Improvisatrice (1824
The London Literary Gazette, 1823

Dylan Moran photo
Robert LeFevre photo
Margaret Caroline Anderson photo
James Bay photo
Jordan Anderson photo
Bob Seger photo
Krysten Ritter photo
Chuck Berry photo

“Just like a bolt of thunder and a streak of heat
Leo covered Jo Jo with all four feet
Jo Jo was screamin' with tears in his eyes
Said," Please Mr. Leo, I apologize"”

Chuck Berry (1926–2017) American rock-and-roll musician

"Joe Joe Gun" (1958)( aka "Jo Jo Gunne") *traditional, new lyrics by Chuck Berry
Song lyrics

Vanna Bonta photo

“People at large are becoming more aware that there is much more to reality and to themselves than what meets the eye.”

Vanna Bonta (1958–2014) Italian-American writer, poet, inventor, actress, voice artist (1958-2014)

Vanna Bonta Talks About Quantum fiction: Author Interview (2007)

Aimee Mann photo

“Little tornado
You and the hurricane
Close your eyes and go campaign
Make it go faster
Baby go faster
Make it go twice the speed of you and me”

Aimee Mann (1960) American indie rock singer-songwriter (born 1960)

"Little Tornado"
Song lyrics, @#%&*! Smilers (2008)

George Bird Evans photo
Ibrahim of Ghazna photo
Robert E. Howard photo
Oliver Wendell Holmes photo

“Thine eye was on the censer,
And not the hand that bore it.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894) Poet, essayist, physician

Lines by a Clerk; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

Robert Burns photo