He liked the fact that Venice had no cars. It made the city human. The streets were like veins, he thought, and the people were the blood, circulating everywhere.
Interpretation
The absence of cars in Venice enhances the humanness of the city, with its streets and people interconnecting like veins and blood.
In this quote, Patricia Highsmith reflects on the unique characteristics of Venice, emphasizing how the lack of vehicles transforms the city into a more human-centric space. The metaphor of streets as veins and people as blood suggests a profound interdependence between the environment and its inhabitants, highlighting the organic and vibrant nature of urban life without the interference of modern transportation.
In practice
This quote can be used in a travel blog to highlight the charm of cities without cars.
But there were too many points at which the other self could invade the self he wanted to preserve, and there were too many forms of invasion: certain words, sounds, lights, actions his hands or feet performed, and if he did nothing at all, heard and saw nothing, the shouting of some triumphant inner voice that shocked him and cowed him.
Then Carol slipped her arm under her neck, and all the length of their bodies touched fitting as if something had prearranged it. Happiness was like a green vine spreading through her, stretching fine tendrils, bearing flowers through her flesh. She had a vision of a pale white flower, shimmering as if seen in darkness, or through water. Why did people talk of heaven, she wondered
Christianity teaches that, contra fatalism, suffering is overwhelming; contra Buddhism, suffering is real; contra karma, suffering is often unfair; but contra secularism, suffering is meaningful. There is a purpose to it, and if faced rightly, it can drive us like a nail deep into the love of God and into more stability and spiritual power than you can imagine.
There is a big difference between an honest mistake made in a moment of spiritual weakness and a willfull decision to disobey persistently the commandments of God. Those who deliberately choose to violate God's commandments or ignore the standards of the Church, even when promising themselves and others that someday they will be strong enough to repent, are stepping into a dangerously slippery slope upon which many have lost their spiritual footing.
The existence of the soldier, next to capital punishment, is the most grievous vestige of barbarism which survives among men.
The number one problem in our world is alienation, rich versus poor, black versus white, labor versus management, conservative versus liberal, East versus West . . . But Christ came to bring about reconciliation and peace.
I have seen my Lord with the eye of my heart, and I said: 'Who are You?' He said: 'You.'
The role of the intellectual cannot be to excuse the violence of one side and condemn that of the other.
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