Jack
dog laughter sadness
A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of laughter more terrible than any sadness-a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild.
war thinking artist
There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive. This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad in a stricken field and refusing quarter; and it came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf-cry, straining after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the moonlight.
life whales broken
. . . and God knows we are sensitive to the suffering that has sometimes broken loose to come billowing forth from your appendages like the pungent vapors of whales - often it appears that in this life of experience and accommodation we pay just as dearly for our triumphs as we do for our defeats. But Sissy . . . hold on!
pain desire possession
Desire is a pain which seeks easement through possession.
song heart years
I'd rather sing one wild song and burst my heart with it, than live a thousand years watching my digestion and being afraid of the wet.
strong pain hate
No; I did not hate him. The word is too weak. There is no word in the language strong enough to describe my feelings. I can say only that I knew the gnawing of a desire for vengeance on him that was a pain in itself and that exceeded all the bounds of language.
play way ends
So that was the way. No fair play. Once down, that was the end of you.
beautiful wreckage stories
The most beautiful stories always start with wreckage.
consciousness pursuit states
Pursuit and possession are accompanied by states of consciousness so wide apart that they can never be united.
stills lurking
The Wild still lingered in him and the wolf in him merely slept.
sleep atoms writing-words
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
writing sweat dozen
Don't write too much. Concentrate your sweat on one story, rather than dissipate it over a dozen.
dog generosity giving
A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.
inspirational life inspiring
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.