The water of life was given to us to make us see for a while that we are more nearly men and women, more nearly kind and gentle and generous, pleasanter and stronger than without its vision there is any evidence we are.
BERNARD DEVOTOThe best reason for putting anything down on paper is that one may then change it.
More Bernard DeVoto Quotes
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The best reason for putting anything down on paper is that one may then change it.
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Art is the terms of an armistice signed with fate.
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Between the amateur and the professional . . . there is a difference not only in degree but in kind.
BERNARD DEVOTO -
It is the first American section to be finished to achieve stability in the conditions of its life. It is the first old civilization, the first permanent civilization in America.
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The trouble with the sacred Individual is that he has no significance, except as he can acquire it from others, from the social whole.
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This is the violet hour, the hour of hush and wonder, when the affectations glow and valor is reborn, when the shadows deepen along the edge of the forest and we believe that, if we watch carefully, at any moment we may see the unicorn.
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The parks preserve it permanently in the inheritance of the American citizens.
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The heart wakens from coma and its dyspnea ends. Its strengthening pulse is to cross over into campground, to believe that the world has not been altogether lost or, if lost, then not altogether in vain.
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When evening quickens in the street, comes a pause in the day’s occupation that is known as the cocktail hour. It marks the lifeward turn.
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The trouble with Reason is that it becomes meaningless at the exact point where it refuses to act.
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The dawn of knowledge is usually the false dawn.
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The mind has its own logic but does not often let others in on it.
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New England is a finished place. Its destiny is that of Florence or Venice, not Milan while the American empire careens onward toward its unpredicted end. . . .
BERNARD DEVOTO -
One may lack words to express the impact of beauty but no one who has felt it remains untouched. It is renewal, enlargement, intensification.
BERNARD DEVOTO -
You can no more keep a Martini in the refrigerator than you can keep a kiss there.
BERNARD DEVOTO