The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.
Don DelilloRead
People think about who they are in the stillest hour of the night. I carry this thought, the child's mystery and terror of this thought, I feel this immensity in my soul every second of my life.
Interpretation
In quiet moments, we confront our true selves and the enormity of existence.
This quote by Don Delillo reflects on the introspection that occurs during the stillness of night, a time when individuals are most vulnerable to their thoughts and the profound mysteries of life. The 'child's mystery and terror' evokes the innate fear and wonder we experience in confronting our identity and the vastness of our existence, emphasizing the importance of such contemplations in shaping our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
In practice
During a meditation session, one could reflect on the nature of self with Delillo's words in mind.
The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.
War is the form nostalgia takes when men are hard-pressed to say something good about their country.
American writers ought to stand and live in the margins, and be more dangerous.
For me, writing is a concentrated form of thinking.
I used to think it was possible for an artist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory.
[I]n the American soul there is a lonely individual standing in a vast landscape. He is either on a horse or driving a car, depending, and either way he’s carrying a gun. This is one of the essential images in American mythology.
Perhaps when distant people on other planets pick up some wavelength of ours all they hear is a continuous scream.
In the Buddhist approach, life and death are seen as one whole, where death is the beginning of another chapter of life. Death is the mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected.
Every real thought on every real subject knocks the wind out of somebody or other.
Though both are bound in the spiral dance, I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess.
I believe in an India of pluralism and diversity, not of religious bigotry and caste politics. I believe in an India that is secure in itself and confident of its place in the world, an India that is a proud example of tolerance, freedom and hope for the downtrodden.
Without adventure civilization is in full decay. ... The great fact [is] that in their day the great achievements of the past were the adventures of the past.
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