Monday, September 24, 2012

Steinbeck

"[...] it is a strange thing that most of the feeling we call religious, most of the mystical outcrying which is one of the most prized and used and desired reactions of our species, is really the understanding and the attempt to say that man is related to the whole thing, related inextricably to all reality, known and unknowable. This is a simple thing to say, but the profound feeling of it made a Jesus, a St. Augustine, a St. Francis, a Roger Bacon, a Charles Darwin, and an Einstein. Each of them in his own tempo and with his own voice discovered and reaffirmed with astonishment the knowledge that all things are one thing and that one thing is all things—plankton, a shimmering phosphorescence on the sea and the spinning planets and an expanding universe, all bound together by the elastic string of time. It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again." 

-- John Steinbeck, The Log from The Sea of Cortez (h/t MC)

 

3 comments:

Marsha R said...

i shared that sweltering room with you and could have stayed a few hours more if it meant i could have heard a few more stories, seen a few more photos and laughed at a dozen more memories.
But I wish there could have been a collective moment - when all of us thanked K for building the foundation that kept him safe and strong for so long. We owe her so much.

Miss Whistle said...

Dear Marsha,
I think you hit the nail on the head: K built the foundation that kept him safe and strong for so long. You're absolutely right. What an incredible feat of love and kindness.
Yes, we owe her so much.
Love, Miss W

AQ: said...

This is a fantastic quote. Thanks for posting X