Cruelty is a mystery, and the waste of pain. But if we describe a word to compass these … - Annie Dillard

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The question of meaning goes all the way down: if human life as a whole is meaningless, so is everything that occurs or belongs within it. Since that's not a thought it is easy to live with, there is good reason to search for life's meaning.

Annie Dillard

Cruelty is a mystery, and the waste of pain. But if we describe a word to compass these things, a world that is a long, brute game, then we bump against another mystery: the inrush of power and delight, the canary that sings on the skull.

Cruelty, Games, Mystery, Pain, Skulls, Waste

Same Author Quotes

We teach our children one thing only, as we were taught: to wake up. We teach our children to look alive there, to join by words and activities the life of human culture on the planet

Children, Culture, Life, Look, Planet, Teach

Just once I wanted a task that required all the joy I had. Day after day I had noticed that if I waited long enough, my strong unexpressed joy would dwindle and dissipate inside me, like a fire subsiding. . . . Just this once I wanted to let it rip.

Dwindle, Fire, Like, Noticed, Rip, Strong

What do I make of all this texture? What does it mean about the kind of world in which I have been set down? The texture of the world, its filigree and scrollwork, means that there is the possibility for beauty here, a beauty inexhaustible in its complexity, which opens to my knock, which answers in me a call I do not remember calling, and which trains me to the wild and extravagant nature of the spirit I seek.

Calling, Doe, Knock, Mean, Set, World

Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you.

Afternoon, Inspirational, Inspiring, Spend, Take, Time

Johnston's books are beautifully written and among the funniest I have ever read.

Beautifully, Book, Books, Funniest, Written