Reference Desk

Famous quotes containing the words reference and/or desk:

“The common behavior of mankind is the system of reference by means of which we interpret an unknown language.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)

“Write about winter in the summer. Describe Norway as Ibsen did, from a desk in Italy; describe Dublin as James Joyce did, from a desk in Paris. Willa Cather wrote her prairie novels in New York City; Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn in Hartford, Connecticut. Recently, scholars learned that Walt Whitman rarely left his room.”
—Annie Dillard (b. 1945)