As the clockwork of the millennia moved a notch in front of their eyes, it had taken their thoughts from small things and reminded them of how vulnerable they were to time.
their powerlessness, innocence, and imagination fused to enable them to turn time inside out, travel on the wind, and enter the souls of animals.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the transformative potential of imagination and innocence in altering one's perception of reality.
Mark Helprin's quote suggests that the vulnerability and imaginative capabilities found in innocence can empower individuals to transcend the limitations of time and experience, likely leading to profound connections with nature and other living beings. The imagery of traveling on the wind and entering the souls of animals evokes a sense of unity with the universe, encouraging a deeper exploration of consciousness and existence.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about creativity, one might say, 'As Mark Helprin illustrates, our innocence and imagination can enable us to dream bigger and achieve the impossible.'
More from Mark Helprin
All quotes βThey're not just dreams. Not anymore, I dream more than I wake now, and, at times, I have crossed over. Can't you see? I've been there.
Youβll join me sooner than you know in a place with . . . no illusions, where the truth is the only architecture, the only color, the only sound--where that which we sense merely on occasion, and which takes us up and gives us the rare and beautiful glimpses of the things we truly love, flows in deep rivers and tumbles about like clouds in the sky.
Perhaps things are most beautiful when they are not quite real; when you look upon a scene as an outsider, and come to possess it in its entirety and forever; when you live in the present with the lucidity and feeling of memory; when, for want of connection, the world deepens and becomes art.
The horse could not do without Manhattan. It drew him like a magnet, like a vacuum, like oats, or a mare, or an open, never-ending, tree-lined road.
He moved like a dancer, which is not surprising; a horse is a beautiful animal, but it is perhaps most remarkable because it moves as if it always hears music.
Similar quotes
Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and enlivens the other who turns it on his fellow man.
Treating an identity as an illness invites real illness to make a braver stand.
I'm not black, but there's a whole lot of times I wish I could say I'm not white.
If a man be endowed with a generous mind, this is the best kind of nobility.
Being called Black in America is the struggle to keep us moving and breathing over bloody water. Being a Nig**r or [Ni**a] without the context of history is like drowning in bloody water, dragging down those yet knowing to swim.
I have no problem with religion, and I grew up with a strong curiosity about spiritual matters, but my searching took me away from church and community worship to the internal journey. Before my recovery began, I found my God in music and the arts, with writers like Hermann Hesse, and musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter.