April 26. I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Last sentence on the last page. Happy birthday to Joe; enjoy this Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:
April 27. Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead.
“The movement of history is heavy, and slow. The movement of history always takes place behind one’s back. As your gaze is fixed upon something immediately in front of you — the object of your anger, for example — history makes a slight, almost imperceptible slither, or shudder, in a direction of its own choice. The distinguishing mark of this direction is that it is not the one that you had anticipated. How history manages this is not known. Because history is made of the will of all individuals taken together, because these oceans of individuals are mostly, or always, in conflict, the movement of history is at one and the same time tightly bound, and outrageous.”
Donald Barthelme | “The Angry Young Man”
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