The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.
James JoyceRead
Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead.
Interpretation
This quote expresses a plea for support and guidance from an experienced source.
In this quote, James Joyce invokes the image of an 'old father' as a metaphor for wisdom and experience, asking for steadfastness and continual support. It reflects a deep appreciation for the guidance that comes from older generations, suggesting that wisdom and reliability are crucial in navigating life's challenges.
In practice
In a speech about valuing elder wisdom in community discussions.
The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.
I think a child should be allowed to take his father's or mother's name at will on coming of age. Paternity is a legal fiction.
If he had smiled why would he have smiled? To reflect that each one who enters imagines himself to be the first to enter whereas he is always the last term of a preceding series even if the first term of a succeeding one, each imagining himself to be first, last, only and alone whereas he is neither first nor last nor only nor alone in a series originating in and repeated to infinity.
Gentle lady, do not sing Sad songs about the end of love; Lay aside sadness and sing How love that passes is enough. Sing about the long deep sleep Of lovers that are dead, and how In the grave all love shall sleep: Love is aweary now.
I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.
The movements which work revolutions in the world are born out of the dreams and visions in a peasant's heart on the hillside.
God gives us always strength enough, and sense enough, for what He wants us to do; if we either tire ourselves or puzzle ourselves, it is our own fault.
Read the heart and not the letter for the pen cannot draw near the good intent.
Who ever converses among old books will be hard to please among the new.
The essence of genius is to know what to overlook.
Of the few innocent pleasures left to men past middle life, the jamming of common sense down the throats of fools is perhaps the keenest.
Tragedy, loss, and hurt often arrive unanticipated. How we react when we are surprised will tell our families whether what we have taught and testified lies deep in our hearts.
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