I've always had a compassion for characters in novels - the sense that they are, whatever they might think, living in a world that has a shape they don't know and can't finally alter.
John CrowleyRead
Just as a lamp waved in darkness creates a figure of light in the air, which remains for as long as the lamp repeats its motion exactly, so the universe retains its shape by repetition: the universe is Time's body. And how will we perceive this body? And how operate on it?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that the universe's structure is shaped by repetitive actions over time, akin to a lamp creating light in darkness.
John Crowley's quote reflects on the nature of the universe and our perception of it, indicating that just as a lamp's motion creates a fleeting figure of light, the universe’s form is maintained through repetitive processes over time. This highlights the fundamental relationship between time and the structure of reality, suggesting that our understanding and interaction with the universe is also influenced by these repetitive patterns.
Themes
UniverseTimeRepetitionPerceptionStructure
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the nature of reality, one could use this quote to illustrate cosmic concepts.
More from John Crowley
All quotes →She had always lived her best life in dreams. She knew no greater pleasure than that moment of passage into the other place, when her limbs grew warm and heavy and the sparkling darkness behind her lids became ordered and doors opened; when conscious thought grew owl's wings and talons and became other than conscious.
John CrowleyRead
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