If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
Speed is scarcely the noblest virtue of graphic composition, but it has its curious rewards. There is a sense of getting somewhere fast, which satisfies a native American urge.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the importance of speed in graphic composition, suggesting that while it may not be the highest virtue, it offers a unique sense of fulfillment.
James Thurber suggests that while speed is not the most admirable quality in graphic design, it plays a significant role in providing a sense of progress and satisfaction. Particularly resonant with American culture, this urge for rapid results speaks to a broader desire for efficiency and accomplishment in creative endeavors, reminding us that sometimes the thrill of moving quickly can be rewarding in its own right.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
An art critique discussing the balance between speed and quality in graphic design.
More from James Thurber
All quotes →The laughter of man is more terrible than his tears, and takes more forms hollow, heartless, mirthless, maniacal.
Things have dropped from me. I have outlived certain desires; I have lost friends, some by death... others through sheer inability to cross the street.
The appreciative smile, the chuckle, the soundless mirth, so important to the success of comedy, cannot be understood unless one sits among the audience and feels the warmth created by the quality of laughter that the audience takes home with it.
Unless artists can remember what it was to be a little boy, they are only half complete as artist and as man.
These are the days of bootleg love.
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Hip-hop is still cool at a party. But to me, hip-hop has never been strictly a party; it is also there to elevate consciousness.
It's wonderful when music is intellectually stimulating. But ultimately it has to be a visceral experience.