To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters the meaning of the object photographed.
Joan DidionRead
A pool is water, made available and useful, and is, as such, infinitely soothing to the western eye.
Interpretation
A pool symbolizes tranquility and utility in nature, appealing to those in the western culture.
In this quote, Joan Didion reflects on how a swimming pool not only serves a practical purpose—providing water for recreation and relaxation—but also represents an ideal of calmness and beauty that resonates with the western aesthetic. The pool is more than just a functional body of water; it embodies a serene oasis that enhances the landscape and offers a soothing visual experience, particularly for those accustomed to its presence.
In practice
During a real estate event, one could cite this quote to highlight the appeal of properties with pools.
To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters the meaning of the object photographed.
The truth is, it's easier for me to write than talk... to express the state I'm in at any time.
Memories are what you no longer want to remember.
It was clear, for example, in 1988 that the political process had already become perilously remote from the electorate it was meant to represent.
I mean maybe I was holding all the aces, but what was the game?
Do not whine... Do not complain. Work harder. Spend more time alone.
what sets wilderness apart in the modern day is not that it's dangerous (it's almost certainly safer than any town or road) or that it's solitary (you can, so they say, be alone in a crowded room) or full of exotic animals (there are more at the zoo). it's that five miles out in the woods you can't buy anything.
When scattered clouds are resting on the bosoms of hills, it seems as if one might climb into the heavenly region, earth being so intermixed with sky, and gradually transformed into it.
Nature is a tropical swamp in sunshine, on whose purlieus we hear the song of summer birds, and see prismatic dewdrops, - but her interiors are terrific, full of hydras and crocodiles.
Nothing in nature is exhausted in its first use...In God, every end is converted into a new means.
I think people had somehow gotten the sense that we have explored everything, when that isn't the case. We so know so little about the ocean, and so much of it is being destroyed.
Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.
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