#tail

Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm; but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves. ↗

— T.S. Eliot

#struggle

When describing nature, a writer should seize upon small details, arranging them so that the reader will see an image in his mind after he closes his eyes. For instance: you will capture the truth of a moonlit night if you'll write that a gleam like starlight shone from the pieces of a broken bottle, and then the dark, plump shadow of a dog or wolf appeared. You will bring life to nature only if you don't shrink from similes that liken its activities to those of humankind." (Letter to Alexander Chekhov, May 10, 1886) ↗

— Anton Chekhov

#detail #nature #show-don-t-tell #writing #life

Among these temples there is one which far surpasses all the rest, whose grandeur of architectural details no human tongue is able to describe; for within its precincts, surrounded by a lofty wall, there is room enough for a town of five hundred families. ↗

— Hernando Cortes

#among #architectural #describe #details #enough

Running like a bunny with his tail on fire. ↗

— Red Barber

#fire #his #like #running #tail

If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. ↗

— Mark Twain

#cannot #cat #hold #learn #other

I got some media coverage for using the tail, the ear, the oink. ↗

— Mario Batali

#ear #got #i #media #media coverage

I love Wagner, but the music I prefer is that of a cat hung up by its tail outside a window and trying to stick to the panes of glass with its claws. ↗

— Charles Baudelaire

#claws #glass #hung #i #i love

In the 19th century the anatomy of the eye was known in great detail and the sophisticated mechanisms it employs to deliver an accurate picture of the outside world astounded everyone who was familiar with them. ↗

— Michael Behe

#accurate #anatomy #astounded #century #deliver

I do write long, long character notes - family background, history, details of appearance - much more than will ever appear in the novel. I think this is what lifts a book from that early calculated, artificial stage. ↗

— Anne Tyler

#appearance #artificial #background #book #calculated

I generally leave the details of fiscal programs to the Administration and Congress. That's really their area of authority and responsibility, and I don't think it's appropriate for me to second guess. ↗

— Ben Bernanke

#appropriate #area #authority #congress #details