A writer is a palmist, reading the lines of the planet.
Interpretation
This quote compares a writer to a fortune teller who interprets the world around them.
Pico Iyer's quote suggests that a writer possesses a unique ability to observe and interpret the deeper meanings of life and existence, much like a palmist interprets the lines on a person's palm. Through their words, writers capture the essence of human experiences and the world itself, imparting wisdom and insights that resonate with readers.
In practice
In a creative writing workshop, to inspire participants to observe the world around them more deeply.
Quitting, for me, means not giving up, but moving on; changing direction not because something doesn’t agree with you, but because you don’t agree with something. It’s not a complaint, in other words, but a positive choice, and not a stop in one’s journey, but a step in a better direction. Quitting-whether a job or a habit-means taking a turn so as to be sure you’re still moving in the direction of your dreams.
I think one reason, obviously, that I spend so much time in one place is that I've been lucky enough to travel a lot, and now there are other different, invisible trains that are more interesting to me.
I've never meditated in my life. I don't practice yoga nor any religion. I'm a tourist on the realm of stillness.
We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate.
I'm no Buddhist monk, and I can't say I'm in love with renunciation in itself, or traveling an hour or more to print out an article I've written, or missing out on the N.B.A. Finals. But at some point, I decided that, for me at least, happiness arose out of all I didn't want or need, not all I did.
The one thing perhaps that technology hasn't always given us is a sense of how to make the wisest use of technology.
I don't photograph life as it is, but life as I would like it to be.
Sing such a song with all of your heart that you'll never have to sing again.
Art is a microscope which the artist fixes on the secrets of his soul, and shows to people these secrets which are common to all.
There's no great mystique to photography. A lot of photographers like to put their hands up to their forehead and tell you how they've suffered and so forth. Well, I just rent a car and drive to the place and take the pictures.
We usually evaluate creative process in terms of how much feeling or thinking was behind the work or how well the work was done. Isn't there any other way of appreciating the process? What if the standard of excellence was how fully present the artist was during the process?
You know, I became a director out of necessity. I was writing comedies, and I couldn't find anybody to deliver it correctly.
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