In our game there’s two views of history: conspiracy and fuck-up.
— John le Carré: The Honourable Schoolboy (1977), ch. 12
A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world.
— John le Carré: The Honourable Schoolboy (1977), ch. 4
A tour of Jay Shafer’s tiny house (via 37signals)
I went as Low Resolution for Halloween.
The shirt took forever to paint, and my face only took slightly forever.
There is no glory so bright but the veil of business can hide it effectually.
— Henry David Thoreau: Journal II:328
What is better than to sit at the end of the day and drink wine with friends, or with substitues for friends. I say at the end of the day, for I would not drink until the sun goes down. Wine is sunshine; under the figure of wine the Creator of the Universe could manifest himself. Can you imagine a manifestation under another figure?
— James Joyce to Padraic Colum (quoted in Ellmann: James Joyce. Rev. Ed., p. 680)
So much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
— William Carlos Williams: The Red Wheelbarrow (1923)
