Jump off. You are a protected individual. Do not fear.
Henry MillerRead
If I were reading a book and happened to strike a wonderful passage I would close the book then and there and go for a walk. I hated the thought of coming to the end of a good book. I would tease it along, delay the inevitable as long as possible, But always, when I hit a great passage, I would stop reading immediately. Out I would go, rain, hail, snow or ice, and chew the cud.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the joy of savoring great moments in literature by taking time to reflect on them in nature.
Henry Miller shares his love for literature and the profound experiences that come from reading. He conveys how certain passages in books can evoke such emotional responses that he feels compelled to pause and reflect on them outdoors, allowing nature to enhance his contemplation. This practice illustrates a deep appreciation for the beauty of words and the desire to extend moments of insight rather than rush through them.
In practice
In a book club discussion, one might quote Miller to emphasize the importance of pausing to reflect on significant passages.
Jump off. You are a protected individual. Do not fear.
I saw through to the last sign and symbol, but I could not read her face. I could see only the eyes shining through, huge, fleshy-like luminous beasts, as though I were swimming behind them in the electric effluvia of her incandescent vision.
The essential thing is to WANT to sing. This then is a song. I am singing.
Great God! What have I turned into? What right have you people to clutter up my life, steal my time, probe my soul, suckle my thoughts, have me for your companion, confidant, and information bureau? What do you take me for? Am I an entertainer on salary, required every evening to play an intellectual farce under your stupid noses? Am I a slave, bought and paid for, to crawl on my belly in front of you idlers and lay at your feet all that I do and all that I know?
We are swimming on the face of time and all else has drowned, is drowning, or will drown.
To sing you must first open your mouth. You must have a pair of lungs, and a little knowledge of music. It is not necessary to have an accordion, or a guitar. The essential thing is to want to sing. This then is a song. I am singing.
I feel that if I can show my demise artistically to the public, I can somehow cure my own legend.
The photographer's most important and likewise most difficult task is not learning to manage his camera, or to develop, or to print. It is learning to see photographically — that is, learning to see his subject matter in terms of the capacities of his tools and processes, so that he can instantaneously translate the elements and values in a scene before him into the photograph he wants to make.
A precious, mouldering pleasure 't is To meet an antique book In just the dress his century wore; A privilege, I think, His venerable hand to take, And warming in our own, A passage back, or two, to make To times when he was young. His quaint opinions to inspect, His knowledge to unfold On what concerns our mutual mind, The literature of old.
I've found that music allows years to fold like an accordion over each other, so I guess you don't feel the passage of time as much.
Sometimes I've called writing a disease. If so, I'm glad that it caught me.
Writing poetry is such an intense experience that it helps to start the process in a casual or wayward frame of mind.
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