He liked the fact that Venice had no cars. It made the city human. The streets were like veins, he thought, and the people were the blood, circulating everywhere.
Interpretation
The absence of cars in Venice enhances the humanness of the city, with its streets and people interconnecting like veins and blood.
In this quote, Patricia Highsmith reflects on the unique characteristics of Venice, emphasizing how the lack of vehicles transforms the city into a more human-centric space. The metaphor of streets as veins and people as blood suggests a profound interdependence between the environment and its inhabitants, highlighting the organic and vibrant nature of urban life without the interference of modern transportation.
In practice
This quote can be used in a travel blog to highlight the charm of cities without cars.
But there were too many points at which the other self could invade the self he wanted to preserve, and there were too many forms of invasion: certain words, sounds, lights, actions his hands or feet performed, and if he did nothing at all, heard and saw nothing, the shouting of some triumphant inner voice that shocked him and cowed him.
Then Carol slipped her arm under her neck, and all the length of their bodies touched fitting as if something had prearranged it. Happiness was like a green vine spreading through her, stretching fine tendrils, bearing flowers through her flesh. She had a vision of a pale white flower, shimmering as if seen in darkness, or through water. Why did people talk of heaven, she wondered
Introducing someone as a "Negro poet with a University degree" or again, quite simply, the expression, "a great black poet." These ready-made phrases, which seem in a common-sense way to fill a need-or have a hidden subtlety, a permanent rub.
The great corrupter of public man is the ego. Looking at the mirror distracts one's attention from the problem.
People never leave, we are always here in our past and future lives.
Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.
When you confer a benefit on those worthy of it, you confer a favor on all.
It is so easy to be hopeful in the daytime when you can see the things you wish on. But it was night, it stayed night. Night was striding across nothingness with the whole round world in his hands . . . They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against cruel walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.
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