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An ending is an artificial device; we like endings, they are satisfying, convenient, and a point has been made. But time does does not end, and stories march in step with time. Equally, chaos theory does not assume an ending; the ripple effect goes on, and on.
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Mythology is much better stuff than history. It has form; logic; a message.
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But who knows their own child? You know bits — certain predictable reactions, a handful of familiar qualities. The rest is impenetrable. And quite right too. You give birth to them. You do not design them.
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I believe that the experience of childhood is irretrievable. All that remains, for any of us, is a headful of brilliant frozen moments, already dangerously distorted by the wisdoms of maturity.
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I can remember the lush spring excitement of language in childhood. Sitting in church, rolling it around my mouth like marbles — tabernacle and pharisee and parable, trespasses and Babylon and covenant.
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There's a fearful term that's in fashion at the moment — closure. People apparently believe it is desirable and attainable.
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My understanding of the past has been savagely undermined.
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Old age worry is its own climate, she reflects. Up against the wire, as you are, the proverbial bus is less of a concern: it is heading for you anyway.
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Giving presents is one of the most possessive things we do, did you realize that? It's the way we keep a hold on other people. Plant ourselves in their lives.
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Quote of the day
In a word I was a pioneer, and therefore had to blaze my own trail.
Marshall Taylor
Penelope Lively
Creative Commons
Born:
March 17, 1933
(age 91)
Bio:
Dame Penelope Margaret Lively is a British writer of fiction for both children and adults. She has won both the Booker Prize and the Carnegie Medal for British children's books.
Known for:
Moon Tiger (1987)
How It All Began (2011)
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (1973)
The Road to Lichfield (1977)
The Photograph (1953)
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