I am madness maddened when it comes to books, writers, and the great granary silos where their wits are stored.
Interpretation
This quote expresses a deep passion and obsession for literature and the creativity of writers.
Ray Bradbury conveys the intensity of his love for books and the creative minds behind them. He emphasizes a profound connection to literature, describing it as a form of madness that inspires and captivates him, highlighting the importance of literary works as both a source of knowledge and a treasure trove of human experience.
In practice
During a book club meeting, I might use this quote to express my enthusiasm for reading.
I've written about 2,000 short stories; I've only published 300 and I feel I'm still learning. Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer. Ray Bradbury, 1967 interview (Doing the Math - that means for every story he sold, he wrote six "un-publishable" ones. Keep typing!)
I never went to college, so I went to the library.
There must be something in books, something we canβt imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You donβt stay for nothing.
I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour.
The first thing a writer should be is - excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it'd be better for his health.
You can't try to do things; you simply must do them.
Architecture is a art when one consciously or unconsciously creates aesthetic emotion in the atmosphere and when this environment produces well being.
Every authentic poem contributes to the labor of poetry... to bring together what life has separated or violence has torn apart... Poetry can repair no loss, but it defies the space which separates. And it does this by its continual labor of reassembling what has been scattered.
Of all the wonders that the world had to offer, only art promised immortality.
To be an actor you have to be a child.
An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house.
In some ways, my gift for music and writing was born out of tragedy, really, and loss.
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