My Life in Quotes- #136-#148
136. “. . . (had nothing to do with) the invisible power that taught him how to breathe from within and control his heartbeats, and that had permitted him to understand why men are afraid of death.”- Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude, p. 35
This quote is a flashing moment of insight into the mystery of human life and and the fear of losing it.
137. “I sit on the downed tree and watch the black steers slip on the creek bottom. They are all bred beef: beef heart, beef hide, beef hocks. They’re a human product like rayon. They’re like a field of shoes. They have cast-iron shanks and tongues like foam insoles. You can’t see through to their brains as you can with other animals; they have beef fat behind their eyes, beef stew.”- Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, p. 4
Dillard’s book is a beautiful celebration of our connection to nature. Here she encounters a cow and is struck by the dumb affect of the beast. Perhaps seeing a cow in this light helps us to feel better about consuming them?
138. “The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.”- ibid., p. 8
The world is full of miracles and we go about our days blind to the awesomeness of the beauty that surrounds us. Dillard invites us to take a moment and take it all in.
139. “It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won’t stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get.”- ibid., p. 16
Ha! In 2026 we have stopped manufacturing pennies altogether. I wonder when this book was written that finding a penny could impact one’s day?
140. “Nature is above all profligate. Don’t believe them when they tell you how economical and thrifty nature is, whose leaves return to the soil. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to leave them on the tree in the first place? This deciduous business alone is a radical scheme, the brainchild of a deranged manic-depressive with limitless capital. Extravagance! Nature will try anything once. This is what the sign of the insects says. No form is too gruesome, no behavior too grotesque. If you’re dealing with organic compounds, then let them combine. If it works, if it quickens, set it clacking in the grass; there’s always room for one more; you ain’t so handsome yourself. This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”- ibid., p. 66
This is a true fact. The immensity of the beauty of the natural world is incomprehensible. There is simply no way to take it in. One can only stand in awe.
141. “It has always been a happy thought to me that the creek runs on all night, new every minute, whether I wish it or know it or care, as a closed book on a shelf continues to whisper to itself its own inexhaustible tale.”- ibid., p. 70
The sound of running water is so soothing, so calming. It is comforting to know that it is there whether we observe it or not.
142. “Live water heals memories.”- ibid., p. 102
See the above. Listening to flowing water connects us to something being than ourselves, something that feels infinite.
143. “You don’t run down the present, pursue it with baited hooks and nets. You wait for it, empty-handed, and you are filled.”- ibid., p. 104
Dillard writes before “mindfulness” became a common watchword, yet here she captures the necessary patience it takes to be fully present.1
144. “Not only did the creator create everything, but that he is apt to create anything. He’ll stop at nothing.”- ibid., p. 138
Again, the author celebrates the staggering diversity of the creation.
145. “Utility to the creature is evolution’s only aesthetic consideration.”- ibid.
Here she attempts to explain the endless diversity as a reference to each element serving a unique purpose to the creature.
146. “Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery.”- ibid., p. 147
There is so much that we don’t understand. Dillard poetically captures how little we know with this beautiful image of the depth of mystery.
147. “Where have I been all summer while the world has been eaten?”- ibid., p. 233
Isn’t this true? Spring arrives and everything bursts forth with freshness. Each leaf perfect in its formation. By the end of summer, nature looks as we all do as we age, withering and contracting.
148. “For most creatures, being parasitized is a way of life- if you call that living.”- ibid.
Wieselthier in his book, Kaddish, quotes a medieval description of hell as an itch that can’t be scratched. A dermatologist friend concurred with this assessment, that this is truly hell. Fortunately for me I am fairly impervious to mosquito bites, but I know that for many it is impossible to enjoy the outdoors when they are plaguing you.
About This Series- About This Series- I love words. I love when a word exactly captures the moment, the feeling. How it precisely describes something that you experienced but didn’t know exactly how to express. It’s like a warm bath or a deeply satisfying meal.
And beyond that- a collection of words. A deeply insightful phrase, thought-provoking and uplifting. A quote to remember.
I started collecting quotes when I was 16 years old. (1972) I’m 70 now, as I write these words, (2026), and there are 473 quotes in my collection. At this precise moment.
That’s not really that many over the course of 54 years. I guess I am fairly discriminating. Sometimes years can go by and the collection lays dormant. In other years there is a great harvest of quotes.
These are not necessarily famous quotes, things you’ll often hear referenced. For the most part, they simply represent words that I read that made me stop for a moment to meditate and bask in their impact. And quotes I enjoy reading and re-reading and quoting myself!
These quotes represent the evolution of my thinking over the course of 54 years. I look forward to pondering what it is that made me find each one meaningful enough to save.