Closely Observed Trains

Famous quotes containing the words closely, observed and/or trains:

    Description is revelation. It is not
    The thing described, nor false facsimile.
    It is an artificial thing that exists,
    In its own seeming, plainly visible,
    Yet not too closely the double of our lives,
    Intenser than any actual life could be....
    Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)

    A wise architect observed that you could break the laws of architectural art provided you had mastered them first. That would apply to religion as well as to art. Ignorance of the past does not guarantee freedom from its imperfections.
    Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971)

    To write weekly, to write daily, to write shortly, to write for busy people catching trains in the morning or for tired people coming home in the evening, is a heartbreaking task for men who know good writing from bad. They do it, but instinctively draw out of harm’s way anything precious that might be damaged by contact with the public, or anything sharp that might irritate its skin.
    Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)