They know these mornings well and love them desperately because they cannot last - these people who know that nothing lasts.
Peter S. Beagle A Fine and Private Place
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In "A Fine and Private Place" by Peter S. Beagle, the characters experience a deep appreciation for fleeting moments, particularly during quiet mornings. Their understanding of the temporary nature of life enhances their love for these moments, making them cherished and profound. The beauty of these mornings is intensified by the knowledge that they are ephemeral, which creates a sense of urgency and value in their simplicity.

Beagle emphasizes a poignant reflection on the human condition, where moments of joy and peace are often short-lived. The characters’ awareness of life's transience drives their emotional connection to these mornings, suggesting that embracing impermanence is essential for finding meaning and depth in life. This resonates with the universal truth that everything is temporary, yet it is this very fleeting nature that makes such experiences so precious.

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A Fine and Private Place
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Peter S. Beagle
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March 18, 2025
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Other quotes in A Fine and Private Place

It's whatever we can get, then," she said, "on whatever terms we can get it.
Peter S. Beagle A Fine and Private Place
It's whatever we can get, then," she said, "on whatever terms we can get it.
We are all ghosts," Morris Klapper said at last. "We are conceived in a moment of death and born out of ghost wombs, and we play in the streets with other little ghosts, chanting ghost-rhymes and scratching to become real. We are told that life is full of goals and that, although it is sadly necessary to fight, you can at least choose your war. But we learn that for ghosts there can only be one battle: to become real. A few of us make it, thus encouraging other ghosts to believe it can be done.
Peter S. Beagle A Fine and Private Place
We are all ghosts," Morris Klapper said at last. "We are conceived in a moment of death and born out of ghost wombs, and we play in the streets with other little ghosts, chanting ghost-rhymes and scratching to become real. We are told that life is full of goals and that, although it is sadly necessary to fight, you can at least choose your war. But we learn that for ghosts there can only be one battle: to become real. A few of us make it, thus encouraging other ghosts to believe it can be done.
The air was motionless, carved, a block of warm copper fitting neatly around the earth, molded while soft to fit every house and every human being on the earth, and now hardened forever so that no man could move and no air ever came through. The earth rumbled down its alley like a golden bowling ball, shining.
Peter S. Beagle A Fine and Private Place
The air was motionless, carved, a block of warm copper fitting neatly around the earth, molded while soft to fit every house and every human being on the earth, and now hardened forever so that no man could move and no air ever came through. The earth rumbled down its alley like a golden bowling ball, shining.
There was nothing for it now but to throw himself on Campos's mercy, and it had been Mr. Rebeck's experience of mercy that it had a tendency to buckle under the weight of a human soul.
Peter S. Beagle A Fine and Private Place
There was nothing for it now but to throw himself on Campos's mercy, and it had been Mr. Rebeck's experience of mercy that it had a tendency to buckle under the weight of a human soul.
I've always thought cemeteries were like cities. There are streets, avenues-you've seen them, I think, Michael. There are blocks, too, and house numbers, slums and ghettos, middle-class sections and small palaces.
Peter S. Beagle A Fine and Private Place
I've always thought cemeteries were like cities. There are streets, avenues-you've seen them, I think, Michael. There are blocks, too, and house numbers, slums and ghettos, middle-class sections and small palaces.
When I was eighteen or twenty, I knew everything except what I wanted. I knew all about people, and poetry, and love, and music, and politics, and baseball, and history, and I played pretty good jazz piano. And then I went traveling, because I felt that I might have missed something and it would be a good idea to learn it before I got my master's degree. {...} And the older I grew, and the farther I traveled, the younger I grew and the less I knew. I could feel it happening to me. I could actually walk down a dirty street and feel all my wisdom slipping away from me, all the things I wrote term papers about.
Peter S. Beagle A Fine and Private Place
When I was eighteen or twenty, I knew everything except what I wanted. I knew all about people, and poetry, and love, and music, and politics, and baseball, and history, and I played pretty good jazz piano. And then I went traveling, because I felt that I might have missed something and it would be a good idea to learn it before I got my master's degree. {...} And the older I grew, and the farther I traveled, the younger I grew and the less I knew. I could feel it happening to me. I could actually walk down a dirty street and feel all my wisdom slipping away from me, all the things I wrote term papers about.
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Other quotes in impermanence

The question was not death; living things die. It was love. Not that we died, but what we cared wildly, then deeply, for one person out of billions. We bound ourselves to the fickle, changing, and dying as if they were rock.
Annie Dillard The Maytrees
The question was not death; living things die. It was love. Not that we died, but what we cared wildly, then deeply, for one person out of billions. We bound ourselves to the fickle, changing, and dying as if they were rock.
Patience was part of his nature, and he accepted his lot as a short-lived mammal, scurrying in and out amid the roots of the giants.
Ruth Ozeki A Tale for the Time Being
Patience was part of his nature, and he accepted his lot as a short-lived mammal, scurrying in and out amid the roots of the giants.
A thousand years ago five minutes wereEqual to forty ounces of fine sand.Outstare the stars. Infinite foretime andInfinite aftertime: above your headThey close like giant wings, and you are dead.
Vladimir Nabokov Pale Fire
A thousand years ago five minutes wereEqual to forty ounces of fine sand.Outstare the stars. Infinite foretime andInfinite aftertime: above your headThey close like giant wings, and you are dead.
They know these mornings well and love them desperately because they cannot last - these people who know that nothing lasts.
Peter S. Beagle A Fine and Private Place
They know these mornings well and love them desperately because they cannot last - these people who know that nothing lasts.
Why did I think that this improvisation could never end? If I had seen that it could, what would I have done differently? What would he?
Joan Didion The Year of Magical...
Why did I think that this improvisation could never end? If I had seen that it could, what would I have done differently? What would he?
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