this-is-the-artist-then-lifes-hungry-man-the-glutton-of-eternity-beautys-miser-glorys-slave
a perception of the cosmic unity of this higher level. And a feeling of timelessness, the feeling that what we know as time is only the result of a naive faith in causality - the notion that A in the past caused B in the present, which will cause C in the future, when actually A, B, and C are all part of a pattern that can be truly understood only by opening the doors of perception and experiencing it... in this moment... this supreme moment... this Kairos.
Tom Wolfe
perception-cosmic-unity-this-higher-level-and-feeling-timelessness-feeling-that-what-we-know-as-time-is-only-result-naive-faith-in-causality-tom-wolfe
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you-can-be-denounced-from-heavens-it-only-makes-people-interested-tom-wolfe
i-still-believe-nonfiction-is-most-important-literature-to-come-out-second-half-20th-century-tom-wolfe
[H]e could see the island of Manhattan off to the left. The towers were jammed together so tightly, he could feel the mass and stupendous weight.Just think of the millions, from all over the globe, who yearned to be on that island, in those towers, in those narrow streets! There it was, the Rome, the Paris, the London of the twentieth century, the city of ambition, the dense magnetic rock, the irresistible destination of all those who insist on being where things are happening-and he was among the victors!
Tom Wolfe
he-could-see-island-manhattan-off-to-left-the-towers-were-jammed-together-tightly-he-could-feel-mass-stupendous-weightjust-think-millions-from-all-over-globe-who-yearned-to-be-on
island quotesmanhattan quotesleft quotestowers quotesjammed quotestightly quotesfeel quotesmass quotesstupendous quotesweightjust quotesmillions quotesglobe quotesyearned quotesisland quotestowers quotesnarrow quotesstreets quotesrome quotesparis quoteslondon quotestwentieth quotescentury quotescity quotesambition quotesdense quotesmagnetic quotesrock quotesirresistible quotesdestination quotesinsist quotesthings quoteshappeningand quotesvictors quotes
your-self-is-other-people-all-people-youre-tied-to-its-only-thread-tom-wolfe
one-belongs-to-new-york-instantly-one-belongs-to-it-as-much-in-five-minutes-as-in-five-years-tom-wolfe
its-great-to-be-part-greatest-jackoff-in-history-tom-wolfe
Le Corbusier was the sort of relentlessly rational intellectual that only France loves wholeheartedly, the logician who flies higher and higher in ever-decreasing concentric circles until, with one last, utterly inevitable induction, he disappears up his own fundamental aperture and emerges in the fourth dimension as a needle-thin umber bird.
Tom Wolfe
le-corbusier-was-sort-relentlessly-rational-intellectual-that-only-france-loves-wholeheartedly-logician-who-flies-higher-higher-in-everdecreasing-concentric-circles-until-with-on
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Loneliness wasn't just a state of mind, was it? It was tactile. She could feel it. It was a sixth sense, not in some fanciful play of words, but physically. It hurt... it hurt like phagocytes devouring the white matter of her brain. It was merely that she had no friends. She didn't even have a sanctuary in which she could simply be alone.
Tom Wolfe
loneliness-wasnt-just-state-mind-was-it-it-was-tactile-she-could-feel-it-it-was-sixth-sense-not-in-some-fanciful-play-words-but-physically-it-hurt-it-hurt-like-phagocytes-devouri
hat I write when I force myself is generally just as good as what I write when I'm feeling inspired. It's mainly a matter of forcing yourself to write.)
they-were-archers-second-set-children-d-paragons-contemporary-teenage-cynicism-they-enjoyed-setting-fire-to-tails-tender-thoughts-tom-wolfe
What was it - this implacable remoteness, this inability to surrender herself to the warmth and comradely feelings of others? Could being an academic star, being applauded over and over again as a prodigy, take the place of all that? She shuddered with a feeling she couldn't have put a name to. It was the congenital human fear of isolation.
Tom Wolfe
what-was-it-this-implacable-remoteness-this-inability-to-surrender-herself-to-warmth-comradely-feelings-others-could-being-academic-star-being-applauded-over-over-again-as-prodig
That's not the end of the world! This is the time to cut loose! To really learn about everything! To learn about guys, to really get to know them! Really find out what goes on in the world! You just have to let yourself fly for once, without constantly thinking about what you left behind on the ground! You're a genius. Everybody knows that. I'm being sincere, Charlotte. Totally. Now there's other things to learn, and this is the perfect time to do it. Take a chance! That's one reason people go to college! It's not the only reason, but it's a big reason.
Tom Wolfe
thats-not-end-world-this-is-time-to-cut-loose-to-really-learn-about-everything-to-learn-about-guys-to-really-get-to-know-them-really-find-out-what-goes-on-in-world-you-just-have-
end quotesworld quotestime quotescut quotesloose quoteslearn quotesguys quotesfind quotesfly quotesconstantly quotesthinking quotesleft quotesground quotesgenius quotessincere quotescharlotte quotestotally quotesthings quoteslearn quotesperfect quoteschance quotesreason quotespeople quotescollege quotesreason quotesbig quotesreason quotes
is-not-this-true-romantic-feeling-not-to-desire-to-escape-life-but-to-prevent-life-from-escaping-you-tom-wolfe
In ordinary perception, the senses send an overwhelming flood of information to the brain, which the brain then filters down to a trickle it can manage for the purpose of survival in a highly competitive world. Man has become so rational, so utilitarian, that the trickle becomes most pale and thin. It is efficient, for mere survival, but it screens out the most wondrous parts of man's potential experience without his even knowing it. We're shut off from our own world. Primitive man once experienced the rich and sparkling flood of the senses fully. Children experience it for a few months-until "normal" training, conditioning, close the doors on this other world, usually for good. Somehow, the drugs opened these ancient doors. And through them modern man may at last go, and rediscover his divine birthright...
Tom Wolfe
in-ordinary-perception-senses-send-overwhelming-flood-information-to-brain-which-brain-then-filters-down-to-trickle-it-can-manage-for-purpose-survival-in-highly-competitive-world
ordinary quotesperception quotessenses quotessend quotesoverwhelming quotesflood quotesinformation quotesbrain quotesbrain quotesfilters quotestrickle quotesmanage quotespurpose quotessurvival quoteshighly quotescompetitive quotesworld quotesman quotesrational quotesutilitarian quotespale quotesthin quotesefficient quotesmere quotessurvival quotesscreens quoteswondrous quotesparts quotesmans quotespotential quotesexperience quotesknowing quotesshut quotesprimitive quotesman quotesexperienced quotesrich quotessparkling quotesfully quoteschildren quotesmonthsuntil quotesnormal quotestraining quotesconditioning quotesclose quotesdoors quotesworld quotesgood quotesdrugs quotesopened quotesancient quotesdoors quotesmodern quotesrediscover quotesdivine quotesbirthright quotes
Sir Gerald Moore: I was at dinner last evening, and halfway through the pudding, this four-year-old child came alone, dragging a little toy cart. And on the cart was a fresh turd. Her own, I suppose. The parents just shook their heads and smiled. I've made a big investment in you, Peter. Time and money, and it's not working. Now, I could just shake my head and smile. But in my house, when a turd appears, we throw it out. We dispose of it. We flush it away. We don't put it on the table and call it caviar.
Tom Wolfe
sir-gerald-moore-i-was-at-dinner-last-evening-halfway-through-pudding-this-fouryearold-child-came-alone-dragging-little-toy-cart-and-on-cart-was-fresh-turd-her-own-i-suppose-the-
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A person has all sorts of lags built into him, Kesey is saying. One, the most basic, is the sensory lag, the lag between the time your senses receive something and you are able to react. One-thirtieth of a second is the time it takes, if you are the most alert person alive, and most people are a lot slower than that. Now Cassady is right up against that 1/30th of a second barrier. He is going as fast as a human can go, but even he can't overcome it. He is a living example of how close you can come, but it can't be done. You can't go any faster than that. You can't through sheer speed overcome the lag. We are all of us doomed to spend the rest of our lives watching a movie of our lives - we are always acting on what has just finished happening. It happened at least 1/30th of a second ago. We think we are in the present, but we aren't. The present we know is only a movie of the past, and we will really never be able to control the present through ordinary means. That lag has to be overcome some other way, through some kind of total breakthrough.
Tom Wolfe
a-person-has-all-sorts-lags-built-into-him-kesey-is-saying-one-most-basic-is-sensory-lag-lag-between-time-your-senses-receive-something-you-are-able-to-react-onethirtieth-second-
person quotessorts quoteslags quotesbuilt quoteskesey quotesbasic quotessensory quoteslag quoteslag quotestime quotessenses quotesreceive quotesreact quotesonethirtieth quotestakes quotesalert quotesalive quotespeople quoteslot quotesslower quotescassady quotes130th quotesbarrier quotesfast quoteshuman quotesovercome quotesliving quotesclose quotesfaster quotessheer quotesspeed quoteslag quotesdoomed quotesspend quotesrest quoteslives quoteswatching quotesmovie quotesacting quotesfinished quoteshappening quoteshappened quotesago quotespresent quotespresent quotespast quotescontrol quotesordinary quotesmeans quoteskind quotestotal quotesbreakthrough quotes
vulgar-but-not-as-vulgar-as-louis-vuitton-thought-sherman-tom-wolfe
His hair has the long jesuschrist look. He is wearing the costume clothes. But most of all, he now has a very tolerant and therefore withering attitude toward all those who are still struggling in the old activist political ways...while he, with the help of psychedelic chemicals, is exploring the infinite regions of human consciousness.
Tom Wolfe
his-hair-has-long-jesuschrist-look-he-is-wearing-costume-clothes-but-most-all-he-now-has-tolerant-therefore-withering-attitude-toward-all-those-tom-wolfe
hair quoteslong quotesjesuschrist quoteswearing quotescostume quotesclothes quotestolerant quoteswithering quotesattitude quotesstruggling quotesactivist quotespolitical quoteswayswhile quotespsychedelic quoteschemicals quotesexploring quotesinfinite quotesregions quoteshuman quotesconsciousness quotes
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, old people in America had prayed, "Please God, don't let me look poor." In the year 2000, they prayed, "Please God, don't let me look old." Sexiness was equated with youth, and youth ruled. The most widespread age-related disease was not senility but juvenility.
Tom Wolfe
in-late-nineteenth-early-twentieth-centuries-old-people-in-america-had-prayed-please-god-dont-let-me-look-poor-in-year-2000-they-prayed-please-god-tom-wolfe
late quotesnineteenth quotesearly quotestwentieth quotescenturies quotespeople quotesamerica quotesprayed quotesgod quotespoor quotesyear quotes2000 quotessexiness quotesequated quotesyouth quotesyouth quotesruled quoteswidespread quotesagerelated quotesdisease quotessenility quotesjuvenility quotes
i-wrote-number-pieces-in-year-1966-that-were-bad-that-although-im-great-collector-my-own-pieces-i-have-never-collected-them-tom-wolfe
the-surest-cure-for-vanity-is-loneliness-tom-wolfe
[Aldous Huxley] compared the brain to a 'reducing valve'. In ordinary perception, the senses send an overwhelming flood of information to the brain, which the brain then filters down to a trickle it can manage for the purpose of survival in a highly competitive world. Man has become so rational, so utilitarian, that the trickle becomes most pale and thin. It is efficient, for mere survival, but it screens out the most wondrous part of man's potential experience without his even knowing it. We're shut off from our own world.
Tom Wolfe
aldous-huxley-compared-brain-to-reducing-valve-in-ordinary-perception-senses-send-overwhelming-flood-information-to-brain-which-brain-then-tom-wolfe
aldous quoteshuxley quotescompared quotesbrain quotesreducing quotesvalve quotesordinary quotesperception quotessenses quotessend quotesoverwhelming quotesflood quotesinformation quotesbrain quotesfilters quotestrickle quotesmanage quotespurpose quotessurvival quoteshighly quotescompetitive quotesworld quotesman quotesrational quotesutilitarian quotespale quotesthin quotesefficient quotesmere quotessurvival quotesscreens quoteswondrous quotespart quotesmans quotespotential quotesexperience quotesknowing quotesshut quotes
It's fortunate that I am a writer, because that has helped me understand the properties of words. They are what have made life complex. In the battle for status in the animal kingdom, power and aggressiveness have been all-important. But among humans, once they acquired speech, all that changed.
Tom Wolfe
its-fortunate-that-i-am-writer-because-that-has-helped-me-understand-properties-words-they-are-what-have-made-life-complex-in-battle-for-status-in-tom-wolfe
everything-was-becoming-allegorical-understood-by-group-mind-especially-this-youre-either-on-bus-off-bus-tom-wolfe
sometimes-we-dont-even-realize-what-we-really-care-about-because-we-get-distracted-by-symbols-tom-wolfe
on-wall-street-he-few-others-how-many-three-hundred-four-hundred-five-hundred-had-become-precisely-that-masters-universe-tom-wolfe
i-dont-think-journalists-should-talk-about-whom-theyre-voting-for-tom-wolfe
miami-is-melting-pot-in-which-none-stones-melt-they-rattle-around-tom-wolfe
dear-mother-i-meant-to-write-you-before-this-i-hope-you-havent-been-worried-i-have-met-some-beautiful-people-tom-wolfe
Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later... that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called Being a Father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life. ~Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe
sherman-made-terrible-discovery-that-men-make-about-their-fathers-sooner-later-that-man-before-him-was-not-aging-father-but-boy-boy-much-like-tom-wolfe
sherman quotesmade quotesterrible quotesdiscovery quotesmen quotesmake quotesfathers quotessooner quotesman quotesaging quotesfather quotesboy quotesboy quotesgrew quoteschild quotessense quotesduty quoteslove quotesadopted quotesrole quotescalled quotesfather quotesmythical quotesinfinitely quotesimportant quotesprotector quoteslid quoteschaotic quotescatastrophic quotespossibilities quoteslife quotes~tom quoteswolfe quotes
I went to see the Beatles last month... And I heard 20,000 girls screaming together at the Beatles... and I couldn't hear what they were screaming, either... But you don't have to... They're screaming Me! Me! Me! Me!... I'm Me!... That's the cry of the ego, and that's the cry of this rally!... Me! Me! Me! Me!... And that's why wars get fought... ego... because enough people want to scream Pay attention to Me... Yep, you're playing their game...
Tom Wolfe
i-went-to-see-beatles-last-month-and-i-heard-20000-girls-screaming-together-at-beatles-i-couldnt-hear-what-they-were-screaming-either-but-you-dont-tom-wolfe
My father was the editor of an agricultural magazine called 'The Southern Planter.' He didn't think of himself as a writer. He was a scientist, an agronomist, but I thought of him as a writer because I'd seen him working at his desk. I just assumed that I was going to do that, that I was going to be a writer.
Tom Wolfe
my-father-was-editor-agricultural-magazine-called-the-southern-planter-he-didnt-think-himself-as-writer-he-was-scientist-agronomist-but-i-tom-wolfe
even-hostile-parodies-admit-from-start-that-target-has-distinct-voice-tom-wolfe
There was a time in the 1930s when magazine writers could actually make a good living. 'The Saturday Evening Post' and 'Collier's' both had three stories in each issue. These were usually entertaining, and people really went for them. But then television came along, and now of course, information technology...the new way of killing time.
Tom Wolfe
there-was-time-in-1930s-when-magazine-writers-could-actually-make-good-living-the-saturday-evening-post-colliers-both-had-three-stories-in-each-tom-wolfe
ive-never-met-american-who-wanted-to-build-empire-tom-wolfe
sherman-made-terrible-discovery-that-men-make-about-their-fathers-sooner-later-tom-wolfe
god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stories-forever-this-kind-trifling-fooling-around-is-not-function-new-journalism-tom-wolfe
The 'New York Honk,' as it was called, was the most fashionable accent an American male could have at that time, namely, the spring of 1963. One achieved it by forcing all words out through the nostrils rather than the mouth. It was at once virile... and utterly affected. Nelson Rockefeller had a New York Honk.
Tom Wolfe
the-new-york-honk-as-it-was-called-was-most-fashionable-accent-american-male-could-have-at-that-time-namely-spring-1963-one-achieved-it-by-forcing-tom-wolfe
i-never-forget-i-never-forgive-i-can-wait-i-find-it-easy-to-harbor-grudge-i-have-scores-to-settle-tom-wolfe
The greatest promotion I ever had on a newspaper was when 'The Washington Post' suddenly promoted me from city-side general assignment reporter to Latin American correspondent and sent me off to Cuba. Fidel Castro had just come to power. It was a very exciting assignment, but also very serious.
Tom Wolfe
the-greatest-promotion-i-ever-had-on-newspaper-was-when-the-washington-post-suddenly-promoted-me-from-city-side-general-assignment-reporter-to-latin-american-correspondent-sent-m
greatest quotespromotion quotesnewspaper quotesthe quoteswashington quotespost quotessuddenly quotespromoted quotescityside quotesgeneral quotesassignment quotesreporter quoteslatin quotesamerican quotescorrespondent quotescuba quotesfidel quotescastro quotespower quotesexciting quotesassignment quotes
My idol is Emile Zola. He was a man of the left, so people expected of him a kind of 'Les Miserables,' in which the underdogs are always noble people. But he went out, and found a lot of ambitious, drunk, slothful and mean people out there. Zola simply could not - and was not interested in - telling a lie.
Tom Wolfe
my-idol-is-emile-zola-he-was-man-left-people-expected-him-kind-les-miserables-in-which-underdogs-are-always-noble-people-but-he-went-out-found-lot-ambitious-drunk-slothful-mean-p
if-conservative-is-liberal-whos-been-mugged-liberal-is-conservative-whos-been-arrested
why-is-question-no-animal-can-ask-because-both-question-answers-require-speech-have-you-ever-seen-animal-shrug
There was a time in the 1930s when magazine writers could actually make a good living. 'The Saturday Evening Post' and 'Collier's' both had three stories in each issue. These were usually entertaining, and people really went for them. But then television came along, and now of course, information technology... the new way of killing time.
Tom Wolfe
there-was-time-in-1930s-when-magazine-writers-could-actually-make-good-living-the-saturday-evening-post-colliers-both-had-three-stories-in-each-issue-these-were-usually-entertain
i-do-novels-bit-backward-i-look-for-situation-milieu-first-then-i-wait-to-see-who-walks-into-it
i-think-evolution-as-myth-like-norse-myths-greek-myths-anybodys-myths-but-it-was-created-for-rational-age
we-are-now-in-me-decade-seeing-upward-roll-third-great-religious-wave-in-american-history
