The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.
James JoyceRead
The studious silence of the library ... Thought is the thought of thought. Tranquil brightness.
Interpretation
Joyce emphasizes the profound and tranquil nature of contemplation found in libraries.
In this quote, James Joyce highlights the serene environment of a library as a space conducive to deep thought and reflection. He suggests that the act of thinking about thinking—metacognition—occurs in this tranquil setting, where the brightness symbolizes clarity and enlightenment gained through introspection and study.
In practice
During a graduation speech, one might quote this to highlight the importance of self-reflection throughout the educational journey.
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.
The unit of effectiveness of education is not the individual but the group. An individual's moral values are primarily important for society as they contribute to a moral social climate, not as they induce particular pieces of behavior.
The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.
Have we forgotten about the children, and thus forsaken the next generation?
The federal government spends about $2.51 per child per day to feed them lunch. Out of that, you have to pay for labor, facilities, and administrative costs, leaving about a dollar for food. Imagine trying to feed yourself a nutritious meal every day with only a dollar. Very difficult.
Our delight in any particular study, art, or science rises and improves in proportion to the application which we bestow upon it. Thus, what was at first an exercise becomes at length an entertainment.
The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.
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