Alive, Alive, Oh!

“All of life in its complexity and beauty is forever minted in the gold of words.”

“in crowded rooms they would form words with their lips for each other’s eyes”

“How obvious it is now —the gift you gave him. All those letters, they were you … All those beautiful powerful words, they were you! … The voice from the shadows, that was you … You always loved me!”

“

Yes, I read. I have that absurd habit. I like beautiful poems, moving poetry, and all the beyond of that poetry.

I am extraordinarily sensitive to those poor, marvelous words left in our dark night by a few men I never knew.

“His eyes beheld beauty not in reality but in the printed word. Standing in the waiting-room, he realized that in his life he had accepted secondary experience — the experience of reading someone else’s thoughts — over real life.”

“A library is infinity under a roof.”

“I like libraries. It makes me feel comfortable and secure to have walls of words, beautiful and wise, all around me. I always feel better when I can see that there is something to hold back the shadows.”

“English is a beautiful language, a remarkably precise language with a million words to choose from to deliver your exact shade of meaning.”

“In the increasingly convincing darkness
The words become palpable, like a fruit
That is too beautiful to eat.”

“Words more beautiful than a found fall leaf.”

“Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”