Nightbird Quotes & Sayings

The computer can't tell you the emotional story. It can give you the exact mathematical design, but what's missing is the eyebrows. — Frank Zappa

To talk easily with people, you must firmly believe that either you or they are interesting. And even then it's not easy. — Mignon McLaughlin

HOW ANGELS SLEEP. Unsoundly. They toss and turn, trying to understand the mystery of the living. They know so little about what it's like to fill a new prescription for glasses and suddenly see the world again, with a mixture of disappointment and gratitude ... Also, they don't dream. For this reason, they have one less thing to talk about. In a backward way, when they wake up they feel as if there is something they are forgetting to tell each other. There is disagreement among the angels as to whether this is a result of something vestigial, or whether it is the result of the empathy they feel for the Living, so powerful it sometimes makes them weep. In general, they fall into these two camps on the subject of dreams. Even among the angels, there is the sadness of division. — Nicole Krauss

There was once a merchant. An eager, industrious young man. His business ... required him to rise early and thus to bed early. But one evening ... he stayed awake past his usual hour ... and in so doing he heard the wondrous singing of something he'd never heard before: a nightbird. The next night, he managed to stay awake later ... to hear more of the bird's song. And the following night. He became so ... so intoxicated with the nightbird's voice that he thought only of it during the day. Came the time when he spent all the night listening to that song. Could not carry out his business during the sunlit hours. Soon he turned his back altogether on the day, and gave himself over to the nightbird's beautiful voice ... much to the sad end of his career, his health ... eventually his life. — Anonymous

But if you knew about this ... conspiracy, why did you cooperate with it? Why did you allow Hae-Joo Im to get so close to you?
Why does any martyr cooperate with his judases?
Tell me.
We see an end beyond the endgame ... — David Mitchell

In my new robe
this morning -
someone else. — Basho Matsuo

Demagogues like [Donald] Trump come along. He says I know what the cause is. Remember, later, the cause was that Mexicans who are coming to this country, well, they were criminals or rapists. Now it is Muslims. — Bernie Sanders

Blessed is the nightbird that sings for joy and not to be heard. — Marty Rubin

There's a chasm between envy and desire. Envy is like wanting something that's not yours. But desire is different. Desire comes out of wanting what is yours, and still wanting it even if it's not yet there, but it's not envy. — Michka Assayas

Whether you know or not, you are the infinite potential of love, peace and joy — Amit Ray

There was no sound but it own for falls and the crackling of the flames behind us. No rustle came from the trees, no insect buzz or nightbird call. The woods were sent in their grief. — Leigh Bardugo