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Walker Percy - Bilingual quotes that celebrate the beauty of language, showcasing meaningful expressions in two unique perspectives.

Walker Percy - Bilingual quotes that celebrate the beauty of language, showcasing meaningful expressions in two unique perspectives.
Walker Percy was a prominent American author known for his philosophical exploration of existential themes in modern society. His works often address the human condition, the search for meaning, and the challenges of communication in an increasingly complex world. Percy’s writing combines rich storytelling with deep insights, making him a unique voice in American literature. Born in 1916 in Birmingham, Alabama, Percy faced personal tragedies early in life, including the deaths of his parents. This backdrop deeply influenced his writing, prompting him to explore themes related to identity and belonging. He became an influential figure in Southern literature, using his background to frame his philosophical inquiries. Percy’s career included novels, essays, and criticism, with notable works like "The Moviegoer," which won the National Book Award. His ability to weave personal experiences with broader existential questions earned him a lasting place in literary history, appealing to readers searching for deeper understanding in their lives. Walker Percy was an influential American author known for exploring existential themes and the human condition through his writing. His unique perspective combined storytelling with philosophical depth, addressing the complexities of modern life. Born in 1916, Percy’s early experiences shaped his literary voice, reflecting on identity and belonging amid personal loss. He emerged as a significant figure in Southern literature, using his background to inform his philosophical inquiries. Percy’s notable works, such as "The Moviegoer," showcase his talent for blending personal narrative with profound questions about existence, securing his legacy as a significant figure in American literature, particularly for readers seeking meaning in their own lives.
An organism exists in its environment in only one mode, that of an open system responding to those segments of its environment to which it is genetically programmed to respond or to which it has learned to respond.But a self must be in a world. It cannot be placed. If it chooses by default not to be placed, then its placement is that of not choosing to be placed.
Walker Percy Lost in the Cosmos: The...
An organism exists in its environment in only one mode, that of an open system responding to those segments of its environment to which it is genetically programmed to respond or to which it has learned to respond.But a self must be in a world. It cannot be placed. If it chooses by default not to be placed, then its placement is that of not choosing to be placed.
The fateful law of human semiotics is this: that of all the objects in the entire Cosmos which the sign-user can apprehend through the conjoining of signifier and signified {word uttered and thing beheld}, there is one which forever escapes his comprehension--and that is the sign-user himself...The self of the sign-user can never be grasped, because, once the self locates itself at the dead center of its world, there is no signified to which a signifier can be joined to make a sign. The self has no sign of itself. No signifier applies. All signifiers apply equally.
Walker Percy Lost in the Cosmos: The...
The fateful law of human semiotics is this: that of all the objects in the entire Cosmos which the sign-user can apprehend through the conjoining of signifier and signified {word uttered and thing beheld}, there is one which forever escapes his comprehension--and that is the sign-user himself...The self of the sign-user can never be grasped, because, once the self locates itself at the dead center of its world, there is no signified to which a signifier can be joined to make a sign. The self has no sign of itself. No signifier applies. All signifiers apply equally.
My own conviction is that semiotics provides an escape from the solipsist prison by its stress on the social origins of language--you have to point to an apple and name it for me before I know there is such a thing--and the existence of a world of apples outside ourselves.
Walker Percy Lost in the Cosmos: The...
My own conviction is that semiotics provides an escape from the solipsist prison by its stress on the social origins of language--you have to point to an apple and name it for me before I know there is such a thing--and the existence of a world of apples outside ourselves.
Is all niceness then or is all buggery? How can a man be forty-five years old and still not know whether all is niceness or buggery? How does one know for sure?
Walker Percy Lancelot
Is all niceness then or is all buggery? How can a man be forty-five years old and still not know whether all is niceness or buggery? How does one know for sure?
Looking at oneself in a mirror is a self-canceling phenomenon. Eyes looking into eyes make a hole which spreads out and renders one invisible. I had seen more of myself in that single glimpse of a ghostly image in the pier mirror, not knowing it was I.
Walker Percy Lancelot
Looking at oneself in a mirror is a self-canceling phenomenon. Eyes looking into eyes make a hole which spreads out and renders one invisible. I had seen more of myself in that single glimpse of a ghostly image in the pier mirror, not knowing it was I.
But if there's nothing wrong with me, he thought, then there is something wrong with the world. And if there is nothing wrong with the world, then I have wasted my life and that is the worst mistake of all.
Walker Percy The Last Gentleman
But if there's nothing wrong with me, he thought, then there is something wrong with the world. And if there is nothing wrong with the world, then I have wasted my life and that is the worst mistake of all.
the origin of consciousness is the initiation of the sign-user into the world of signs by a sign-giver.
Walker Percy Lost in the Cosmos: The...
the origin of consciousness is the initiation of the sign-user into the world of signs by a sign-giver.
The drowsiness returns. It is unwelcome. I recognize it as the sort of fitful twilight which has come over me of late, a twilight where waking dreams are dreamed and sleep never comes.
Walker Percy The Moviegoer
The drowsiness returns. It is unwelcome. I recognize it as the sort of fitful twilight which has come over me of late, a twilight where waking dreams are dreamed and sleep never comes.
In this case I read on. And on. First with the sinking feeling that it was not bad enough to quit, then with a prickle of interest, then a growing excitement, and finally an incredulity: surely it was not possible that it was so good.
Walker Percy A Confederacy of Dunces
In this case I read on. And on. First with the sinking feeling that it was not bad enough to quit, then with a prickle of interest, then a growing excitement, and finally an incredulity: surely it was not possible that it was so good.
In New Orleans I have noticed that people are happiest when they are going to funerals, making money, taking care of the dead, or putting on masks at Mardi Gras so nobody knows who they are.
Walker Percy Lancelot
In New Orleans I have noticed that people are happiest when they are going to funerals, making money, taking care of the dead, or putting on masks at Mardi Gras so nobody knows who they are.
The self has no sign of itself... For me, certain signifiers fit you, and not others. For me, all signifiers fit me, one as well as another. I am rascal, hero, craven, brave, treacherous, loyal, at once the secret hero and asshole of the Cosmos.
Walker Percy Lost in the Cosmos: The...
The self has no sign of itself... For me, certain signifiers fit you, and not others. For me, all signifiers fit me, one as well as another. I am rascal, hero, craven, brave, treacherous, loyal, at once the secret hero and asshole of the Cosmos.
How much better it would be if they weren't so damn understanding--if they kicked me out of the house. To find yourself out in the street with two dollars to your name, to catch the streetcar downtown and get a job, perhaps as an airline stewardess. Think how wonderful it would be to fly to Houston and back three times a week for the next twenty years. You think I'm kidding? I'm not. It would be wonderful.
Walker Percy The Moviegoer
How much better it would be if they weren't so damn understanding--if they kicked me out of the house. To find yourself out in the street with two dollars to your name, to catch the streetcar downtown and get a job, perhaps as an airline stewardess. Think how wonderful it would be to fly to Houston and back three times a week for the next twenty years. You think I'm kidding? I'm not. It would be wonderful.
God, if you recall, did not warn his people against dirty books. He warned them against high places.
Walker Percy Love in the Ruins
God, if you recall, did not warn his people against dirty books. He warned them against high places.
Polarities of the 'authentic' vs. the 'inauthentic' are easily discernible in recreational modes. The criteria of authenticity are not necessarily objective but rather have to do with the rules by which the self allows or disallows its own experience.
Walker Percy Lost in the Cosmos: The...
Polarities of the 'authentic' vs. the 'inauthentic' are easily discernible in recreational modes. The criteria of authenticity are not necessarily objective but rather have to do with the rules by which the self allows or disallows its own experience.
In some evolving civilizations, for reasons which we don't entirely understand, the evolution of consciousness is attended by a disaster of some sort which occurs shortly after the breakthrough. It has something to do with the discovery of the self and the incapacity to deal with it, the consciousness becoming self-conscious but not knowing what to do with the self, not even knowing what its self is, and so ending by being that which is not, and making others what they are not.
Walker Percy Lost in the Cosmos: The...
In some evolving civilizations, for reasons which we don't entirely understand, the evolution of consciousness is attended by a disaster of some sort which occurs shortly after the breakthrough. It has something to do with the discovery of the self and the incapacity to deal with it, the consciousness becoming self-conscious but not knowing what to do with the self, not even knowing what its self is, and so ending by being that which is not, and making others what they are not.
...the self can be as desperately stranded in the transcendence of theory as in the immanence of consumption.
Walker Percy Lost in the Cosmos: The...
...the self can be as desperately stranded in the transcendence of theory as in the immanence of consumption.
Much of current speculation about the nature of ETIs--what level of technology have you achieved?, etc.--is misguided. The first question an earthling should ask of an ETI is not: What is the level of your science? but rather: Did it also happen to you? Do you have a self? If so, how do you handle it? Did you suffer a catastrophe.
Walker Percy Lost in the Cosmos: The...
Much of current speculation about the nature of ETIs--what level of technology have you achieved?, etc.--is misguided. The first question an earthling should ask of an ETI is not: What is the level of your science? but rather: Did it also happen to you? Do you have a self? If so, how do you handle it? Did you suffer a catastrophe.
What Descartes did not know: no such isolated individual as he described can be conscious.
Walker Percy Lost in the Cosmos: The...
What Descartes did not know: no such isolated individual as he described can be conscious.
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