Calder Quotes & Sayings

It took a long moment, but Gerard finally raised his head and looked Jon in the eye. It meant that I have not been honest with you, Jon Calder, and if you are to understand the danger you are in now, I must tell you everything, no matter if you believe me or not. — Hank Edwards

Awakened by a thousand dogs, a passing truck, the tailspin of a poisoned mosquito (or, perhaps, merely the silence of my dreams), I had, before remembering who and where I was, seen only that green sun suspended in the firmament of my room (her uterus bottled in preserving fluids) and, through seconds that became millennia, millennia aeons, felt the steadfastness of my orbit around that cold glow of love, a marvelous fatal steadfastness, before my pupils dilated and shadows and unease once more defined reality, the steel box naked but for a mattress and insomnious bugs where I had lived, in a coma of heartbreak and drunkenness, the six months since Primavera's death. — Richard Calder

You have told yourself that you have found your knight in shining armor, my brother Rick. Isn't that the truth? You met him and he fit the bill, so you have told yourself a wonderful story and, stubborn brat that you are, you have been clinging to it ever since. After all, what could be more appropriate than for Francesca Cahill, reformer extraordinaire, to fall in love with my reform-minded Republican brother? But wait! Being as this is a love story, there has to be an unhappy middle and the perfect hero isn't quite so perfect after all. For he is married. Oh, wait! It isn't that bad, after all, for as it turns out he is a man of virtue, and he really loves you, while he despises his wife! And did I forget to mention that she is vile and evil? So the story can limp along, and true love might survive after all! Does this sound at all familiar, Francesca?"
"I almost hate you," she whispered. And she felt a tear sliding down her cheek. — Brenda Joyce

To most people who look at a mobile, it's no more than a series of flat objects that move. To a few, though, it may be poetry. — Alexander Calder

I like the color of the Caribbean." I paused and absorbed the warmth of her smile before adding, "Dogs, not cats. Boxers, not briefs. Redheads over brunettes ... " I glanced sideways at her, and she met my gaze. "I have a penchant for girls in velvet jackets ... and I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."
She choked in surprise, sputtered, and shook her head.
"You see? This is what I mean."
"What?"
"Nobody talks like that. I barely know you."
I was genuinely confused. Didn't girls like to hear this stuff? Besides, it was, conveniently enough, the truth. "Well, I talk like this. And you should be used to people telling you you're beautiful."
"Well, I'm not," she said, and she sounded like she was getting irritated with me again. The feeling was mutual.
I leaned against the wall and pulled up one knee. "Okay. I take it back. You are completely average. Dull, dull, dull. Unremarkable in every way. — Anne Greenwood Brown

That others grasp what I have in mind seems unessential, at least as long as they have something else in theirs. — Alexander Calder

I'm getting old, thought Eileen Calder. Old and worn out and cynical. And being cynical is a lot worse than being old or worn out. — Charles Sheffield

When an artist explains what he is doing, he usually has to do one of two things: either scrap what he has explained, or make his work fit in with the explanation. — Alexander Calder

In May 2006, I had our son, Calder. I spent the next couple of years learning how to be a mom. — Lisa Cholodenko

See the stars, Lily?"
She sighed, surrendering. "Of course."
"Do you think they can see the sun coming up?"
"I don't know. Probably?"
"Do you think they're scared?"
"They're burning balls of gas, Calder."
"Oh, c'mon. Where's the poet in you?"
She exhaled, and I sensed her smile. "I see. Well, in that case, yes. They've finally come home. They are triumphant in their midnight kingdom. But the enemy approaches. They have the numbers on their side, but the enemy is bigger, stronger, with a history of winning that goes back to the dawn of time. They're definitvely terrified."
I nodded. She understood my analogy.
"But they don't run, Calder. — Anne Greenwood Brown

My fingers always seem busier than my mind. — Alexander Calder

Calder kissed me in a way that made me believe I had no only always been his, but I would be his forever. In this life or any other. In his kiss was the promise that wherever he and I existed, we would belong to each other. — Mia Sheridan

Well, he's scraping up what there is. Reckon we'll need every ready hand when it comes to a battle. Yours too, maybe.'
'Oh, you'll have to hold me back!' Calder slapped the hilt of his sword. 'Can't wait to get started!'
'You ever even drawn the fucking thing?' sneered Tenways, stretching his neck out to spit again.
'Just the once. I had to trim your daughter's hairy cunt before I could get at it. — Joe Abercrombie

If you can imagine a thing, conjure it up in space then you can make it ... The universe is real but you can't see it. You have to imagine it. Then you can be realistic about reproducing it. — Alexander Calder

A thoughtful observer of the scientific betting shop, the biologist Sir Peter Medawar, has said: 'I cannot give any scientist of any age better advice than this: the intensity of the conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing on whether it is true or not.' But as Medawar goes on to note, conviction is an incentive to work. Science is one of the most passionate of human activities: how else would researchers be sustained through the long weeks or years of drudgery, why otherwise should Hoyle and Wickramasinghe spend so much time in correspondence with school matrons? If appearances contradict this, it is because all gamblers pride themselves on keeping their outward cool. — Nigel Calder

A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move, propelled by electric motors, wind, water or by hand. — Alexander Calder

You can't find happiness outside yourself, Calder."
I shook my head. "You sound like a fortune cookie."
"It's still true. Everyone's always trying to do it, y'know. They try to get with the right people, hook up with the right guy, join the right club - without ever asking what 'right' is."
"And this is somehow supposed to apply to me? I'm not some identity-confused sophomore, Lily. If you haven't been listening, I turn into a thieving, murdering fish. — Anne Greenwood Brown

I have been making wire jewelry - and think I'll really do something with it, eventually. — Alexander Calder

I don't know why you're so hard to convince," I said, "But I'm really not that bad of a guy."
"Spoken like a true serial killer. — Anne Greenwood Brown

It's likely that CO2 has some warming effect, but real proof of that hypothesis is tricky. You have to confirm by observation exactly how the CO2 changes the situation at different altitudes in the atmosphere and in different regions of the world. For example, CO2 is supposed to warm the upper air faster than the surface, but the measurements don't show that happening. When the CO2 effect is eventually pinned down, it will probably turn out to be weaker and much less worrisome than predicted by the global warming theorists. — Nigel Calder

We'll see. Thanks for drawing your sword for me. I always had you down as a man to back the favourite.'
'So did I. But for a moment up there you reminded me of your father.' Pale-as-Snow planted his own boot on the wall beside Calder's. 'I remembered how it felt to follow a man I admire.'
Calder snorted. 'I wouldn't get used to that feeling.'
'Don't worry, it's gone already. — Joe Abercrombie

The natural pattern of current astronomy is provided by the cryptic unity of nature itself (belief in which is the chief act of faith of the scientist). — Nigel Calder

But, when tales of the cosmos are told, this period of ours may always be recalled as that in which men first came to realise what a violent universe we inhabit. — Nigel Calder

Dr. Calder [a Unitarian minister] said of Dr. [Samuel] Johnson on the publications of Boswell and Mrs. Piozzi, that he was like Actaeon, torn to pieces by his own pack. — Horace Walpole

That is how the atom is split. But what does it mean ? To us who think in terms of practical use it means - Nothing ! — Peter Ritchie Calder

I'd rather lie in a hammock with you
with nothing but happiness surrounding us
and be ambushed than run away. — Anne Greenwood Brown

Just as one can compose colors, or forms, so one can compose motions. — Alexander Calder

Above all, art should be fun. — Alexander Calder

The underlying sense of form in my work has been the system of the universe, or part thereof. For that is a rather large model to work from. — Alexander Calder

How much sex do you think you can have? Because there had been a lot, Calder was not a small man, and my own body was deliciously sore and achy. I didn't mind.
Calder turned toward me, his cheeks still flushed from the workout of minutes before, looking beautifully happy. Well, I'm young, and healthy, and I'm desperately in love with the woman in my bed. So, a lot. — Mia Sheridan

At the moment, it actually says nothing about a possible cosmic-ray effect on clouds and climate, but it's a very important first step." This may be because he was ordered to speak circumspectly. According to science writer Nigel Calder, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the director of the CERN lab, told a German newspaper that "I have asked the colleagues to present the results clearly, but not to interpret them. That would go immediately into the highly political arena of the climate change debate. One has to make clear that cosmic radiation is only one of many parameters. — Rolf-Dieter Heuer

The sense of motion in painting and sculpture has long been considered as one of the primary elements of the composition. — Alexander Calder

"And when you go back to your room tonight, I'll know I'm closer to you than I was yesterday, and my bed will have your smell all over it". — Mia Sheridan

The gods created this place for us," I whispered, smiling dreamily. Calder paused, brushing his lips once more across my throat before responding. "Yes." I felt him smile against my skin. "Why do you think they did that?" "So we'd have a place to fall in love. — Mia Sheridan

My whole theory about art is the disparity that exists between form, masses and movement. — Alexander Calder

I paint with shapes. — Alexander Calder

When everything goes right a mobile is a piece of poetry that dances with the joy of life and surprise! — Alexander Calder

My fan mail is enormous. Everyone is under six. — Alexander Calder

Knives,' muttered Calder, 'and threats, and bribes, and war?'

Bayaz' eyes shone with the lamplight. 'Yes?'

'What kind of a fucking wizard are you?'

'The kind you obey. — Joe Abercrombie

About my method of work: first it's the state of mind - Elation (joy). — Alexander Calder

The threat of a new ice age must now stand alongside nuclear war as a likely source of wholesale death and misery for mankind. — Nigel Calder

There was no point in lying. "Yes. I am following you."
Her carefully controlled exterior faltered. "Why?"
"Because I like you. I'm sorry if that makes you nervous."
All the color drained from her face. "I thought you thought I was crazy."
"I like crazy."
"You're unbelievable," she grumbled.
"So I've been told. — Anne Greenwood Brown

The trouble with a lot of artists today is that they have too much technique and equipment. They don't know what to do with it all. If you cut down on it, you can work more strongly within narrower limits. — Alexander Calder

I think ... I think, Calder, that we have to figure out how to forgive, not for the people who wronged us, but for us. We can't keep bitterness attached to our hearts because eventually, it might become part of us - so deeply ingrained we can't work it back out. I think we have to focus on the beauty we've been given in this life, and make that the thing that defines us. Because people defined by bitterness end up destroying themselves from the inside out, and eventually they destroy everyone who tries to love them, too. That's not going to be us. — Mia Sheridan

Calder, do you like me? And then I laughed, breaking the spell. Her eyes flashed open and blood flooded her cheeks. She pushed off, but I reached out and pulled her toward me again. That one second of physical separation was too painful a void. — Anne Greenwood Brown

Recent studies have considered the detection of a spaceship visiting our parish of the galaxy. In my opinion that last thought should bring a blush to every human cheek ... Fecklessness might be the main theme of the aliens' report on the new-found source of radio pollution ... that emanates from beings who have mastered a lot of physics, chemistry and biology and yet let their children starve-while all around their planet the energy of their mother star runs to waste in a desert of space. — Nigel Calder

Can't live in a crazy forest that's trying to kill you without a top-of-the-line stabbing stick. — James Tynion IV

To win the Calder Trophy means a lot. It means a lot. I don't have words. I could tell you in Russian. — Alexander Ovechkin

The first inspiration I ever had was the cosmos, the planetary system. — Alexander Calder

Why must art be static? You look at an abstraction, sculptured or painted, an entirely exciting arrangement of planes, spheres, nuclei, entirely without meaning. It would be perfect, but it is always still. The next step in sculpture is motion. — Alexander Calder

Science at best is not wisdom; it is knowledge. Wisdom is knowledge tempered with judgment. — Peter Ritchie Calder

The first thing I remember is Alexander Calder - our school took us on a field trip to go see the Calder mobiles, and that always stuck in my memory. — Owen Wilson

Picasso said that art is a lie, but a lie that tells the truth ... Calder wondered what Picasso had meant. Was it that art wasn't exactly the real world, but it said something real? — Blue Balliett

It took 17 years to get 'Rambling Rose' made from the time Calder Willingham wrote the script adapted from his novel. Ed Scherick, the producer, was interested in it. Martha Coolidge was interested in directing it. — Diane Ladd

What are you doing out there?" Lily hissed.
"Would you believe me if I said I was just passing by?"
She groaned. "You are a terrible liar, Calder White. — Anne Greenwood Brown

No true hero ever believes that they are one. — Neal Shusterman

Love the ponytail," Connor says, pointing at his hair.
Lev shrugs. "It's just because my hair is so tatted. But maybe I'll keep it."
"Don't," Connor tells him. "I lied. I hate it. — Neal Shusterman

I think, Calder, that we have to figure out how to forgive, not for the people who wronged us, but for us. — Mia Sheridan

The big discoveries raise questions that make astronomers work feverishly and argue with an agitation that verges on rudeness. — Nigel Calder

The simplest forms in the universe are the sphere and the circle. I represent them by disks and then I vary them ... spheres of different sizes, densities, colours and volumes, floating in space, traversing clouds, sprays of water, currents of air, viscosities and odours - of the greatest variety and disparity. — Alexander Calder

The thing is, Calder, it's not always a choice who you develop feelings for. You're playing with fire in more ways than one. Any fool can see the way you two look at each other. — Mia Sheridan

Governments are trying to achieve unanimity by stifling any scientist who disagrees. Einstein could not have got funding under the present system. — Nigel Calder

I wore one of my Tanguy earrings and one made by Calder in order to show my impartiality between Surrealist and Abstract Art. — Peggy Guggenheim

Do what you know needs to be done. — Lynda A. Calder

Perhaps Calder's secret lies in the idea that each mobile is, truly, a metaphor for the experience of living, for the interconnected movement of separate elements that make up a life. Each mobile tells us to stop, to wonder, to wonder some more, and to celebrate. — Blue Balliett

There had been a popular joke on Freedom, started by a man named Calder. Looking down from space, he had said, the dominant life forms on Earth were obviously the cereals and other grasses. They occupied all the most desirable and fertile land; and they had tamed insects and animals to care for them. In particular, they had domesticated the bipeds to nurture and cultivate them and to save and plant their seed. Now, watching the farmers, Alex could easily imagine that they were worshiping and genuflecting before their masters. — Larry Niven

To an engineer, good enough means perfect. With an artist, there's no such thing as perfect. — Alexander Calder

Our life is a blank book and we are the authors......... Write and shape your story as much as the mind can imagine it — Jason Calder

I love red so much, I almost want to paint everything red. — Alexander Calder

If you have a problem with me, call me. If you don't have my number then that means you don't know me well enough to have a problem. — Eleanor Calder

You see nature and then you try to emulate it. — Alexander Calder

You are my only accomplishment. — Brenda Joyce

The universe is real, but you can't see it. You have to imagine it. — Alexander Calder

The basis of everything I do is the universe. — Alexander Calder

Some things must happen so that others may come to pass. — Lynda A. Calder

She rolled her eyes. " I was talking about your temperature, jerk. But just to be clear, I never said you weren't good-looking. If you remember, I said you made me nervous."
"Right. So, you think I'm good-looking?"
She swatted me over the head with her fedora, then went back to the cash register, saying, "You're really annoying. If you're sisters are pains in the ass, I'm thinking they learned it from you. — Anne Greenwood Brown

these are residues of a dream world that form a historical border to the next era, — Evan Calder Williams