{"id":559,"date":"2015-11-15T01:15:28","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T01:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/repeatright.com\/engine\/?p=559"},"modified":"2018-10-08T16:01:59","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T16:01:59","slug":"ackerman-diane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.repeatright.com\/engine\/ackerman-diane\/","title":{"rendered":"ACKERMAN, Diane"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453315804311{margin-top: -40px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531588223-e020d87d-f7dd094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cIt began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990) final line of postscript,\u00a0New York: Vintage Books edition, 1995, p. 309<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-ban” add_icon=”true” title=”Misquotes” tab_id=”1449531589281-1a7ccd5f-aa59094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Misquote note<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: A few sources have paraphrased the cited quote by changing the word \u201cit<\/strong>\u201d to\u201clife<\/strong>\u201d at the beginning of the Ackerman’s original sentence:<\/p>\n

Original text<\/em><\/span>: \u201cIt<\/strong> began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.\u201d<\/p>\n

Misquote\/paraphrase<\/em><\/span>: \u201cLife<\/strong> began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531588755-96303790-852e094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Non-fiction; final lines of book postscript.]:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great affair, the love affair with life, is to live as variously as possible, to groom one\u2019s curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sun-struck hills every day. Where there is no risk, the emotional terrain is flat and unyielding, and, despite all its dimensions, valleys, pinnacles, and detours, life will seem to have none of its magnificent geography, only a length. It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.<\/span>\u201d (p. 309)<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1449531589797-29580b31-8c50094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library \u2013 A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990|1995 Vintage Books ed.), International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 9780679735663<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315829087-ce67c619-0fbcd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cLove is the white light of emotion.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

A Natural History of Love<\/em> (1994) New York: Vintage Books edition, March 1995, p. xvi<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315829475-7c82a017-1e62d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Introduction to non-fiction text]:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I set a glass prism on a windowsill and allow the sun to flood through it, a spectrum of colors dances on the floor. What we call \u201cwhite\u201d is a rainbow of colored rays packed into a small space. The prism sets them free. Love is the white light of emotion. It includes many feelings which, out of laziness or confusion, we crowd into one simple word.<\/span>\u201d (p. xvi)<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1453315829682-63e8fade-cf4cd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – A Natural History of Love<\/em> (1994) International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 0-679-76183-7<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1ed258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cPeople often ask me where they might go to find adventure. Adventure is not something you must travel to find, I tell them, it\u2019s something you take with you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

\u201cWorlds Within Worlds\u201d (17 December 1995) Opinion essay in The New York Times<\/em>, New York, NY: The New York Times Co.; online via New York Times\u00a0<\/em>archives [subscription service] www.nytimes.com [Original print edition volume & page number not shown.]\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bfd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Essay]:<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople often ask me where they might go to find adventure. Adventure is not something you must travel to find, I tell them, it\u2019s something you take with you.<\/span> The astonishing can turn up in the leaf clutter, or even a neighborhood restaurant, in a dingy tank, on the lips of lobsters.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e0d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: \u201cWorld Within Worlds\u201d (17 December 1995) The New York Times;\u00a0<\/em>‘TimesMachine’ archive [subscription service]: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1995\/12\/17\/opinion\/worlds-within-worlds.html<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531591105-7edf5f39-feaa094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cPlay is an activity enjoyed for its own sake. It is our brain\u2019s favorite way of learning and maneuvering.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

Deep Play<\/em> (1999) New York, NY: Vintage Books, p. 11<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-ban” add_icon=”true” title=”Misquotes” tab_id=”1449531592148-05fdd3db-5676094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Misquote Note<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Ackerman’s quote has been frequently paraphrased by online and print sources:<\/p>\n

Original line<\/em><\/span>:\u00a0\u201cPlay is an activity enjoyed for its own sake. It is our brain\u2019s favorite way of learning and maneuvering<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Misquote\/Paraphrase<\/em><\/span>:\u00a0\u201cPlay is our brain\u2019s favorite way of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531591631-43861bc7-da28094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Non-fiction]:<\/p>\n

\u201cPlay is an activity enjoyed for its own sake. It is our brain\u2019s favorite way of learning and maneuvering.<\/span> Because we think of play as the opposite of seriousness, we don\u2019t notice that it governs most of society \u2013 political games, in-law games, money games, love games, advertising games, to list only a few spheres where gamesmanship is rampant.\u201d (p. 11)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1449531592891-f39e055b-a66e094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Deep Play<\/em> (1999) International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 0-679-77135-2[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1ed258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cPoetry is an act of distillation. It takes contingency samples, is selective. It telescopes time. It focuses what most often floods past us in a polite blur.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

\u201cWhite Lanterns\u201d (1991) Essay in The Writer on Her Work<\/em>, Vol. II, ed. Janet Sternburg, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, p. 205<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531591631-43861bc7-da28094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Essay]:<\/p>\n

\u201cA poem records emotions and moods that lie beyond normal language, that can only be patched together and hinted at metaphorically. It knows about spunk, zealousness, obstinacy, and deliverance. It accretes life, which is why different people can read different things in the same poem. It freezes life, too, yanks a bit out of life\u2019s turbulent stream, and holds it up squirming for view, framed by the white margins of the page. Poetry is an act of distillation. It takes contingency samples, is selective. It telescopes time. It focuses what most often floods past us in a polite blur.<\/span>\u201d (p. 205)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1449531592891-f39e055b-a66e094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library \u2013 The Writer on Her Work<\/em> (1991) W.W. Norton & Co., International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 0-393-30867-7<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315829087-ce67c619-0fbcd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cR<\/strong>evolutions don\u2019t require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Man Who Made a Revolution\u201d (6 September 1987) Parade Magazine<\/em>, New York: Parade Inc., in The Kokomo Tribune<\/em>, Vol. 138, No. 4, Kokomo, Indiana, p. 22 (p. 73 of full Kokomo Tribune <\/em>edition); online via Newspapers.com [subscription service] www.newspapers.com<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-ban” add_icon=”true” title=”Misquotes” tab_id=”1449531592148-05fdd3db-5676094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Re-quote note<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: A number of sources have paraphrased Ackerman\u2019s quote by changing the first words from \u201c[R]evolutions don\u2019t require a majority…<\/em>\u201d to \u201cIt does not require a majority…<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Original<\/em><\/span>: \u201cEarly on, he realized that revolutions don\u2019t require<\/strong> a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brushfires in people\u2019s minds.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n

Misquote\/paraphrase<\/em><\/span>: \u201cIt does not require<\/strong> a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Misattribution note<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Ackerman\u2019s 1987 description of Samuel Adams has also been misconstrued by a number of sources and attributed to Samuel Adams<\/span><\/strong> himself. The quote (or a similar version) does not<\/u> appear in Adams\u2019 work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For additional background and research on the Ackerman misattribution, please see an earlier post by etymologist Barry Popik: https:\/\/www.barrypopik.com\/index.php\/new_york_city\/entry\/it_does_not_require_a_majority_to_prevail_but_rather_an_irate_tireless_mino<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315829475-7c82a017-1e62d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong>: [On revolutionary-era politician Samuel Adams]:<\/p>\n

\u201cAdams didn\u2019t invent the phrase \u201crabble-rousing,\u201d but he raised the act to an art form. Early on, he realized that revolutions don\u2019t require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brushfires in people\u2019s minds<\/span>. Dogged, subtle, eloquent and cunning, he was obsessed with a vision of the ideal state he wanted America to become. Fueled by the tonic of his self-righteousness, he published a blizzard of circulars, newspaper articles and letters that bristled with restrained indignation. The letters were signed with pseudonyms, so that it would appear that many vocal zealots were enraged, but his one-man propaganda factory wrote them all. It was his form of pyromania, and it worked.\u201d (p. 22)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315829682-63e8fade-cf4cd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link <\/em><\/strong>[Featured source]<\/span>: \u201cThe Man Who Made a Revolution\u201d (6 September 1987) Parade Magazine<\/em>, in The Kokomo Tribune<\/em>; online via Newspapers.com [subscription service]: https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/2666174<\/a><\/p>\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong> [Additional misattribution research – Barry Popik]<\/span>: \u201cIt does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority\u201d (2 December 2009) The Big Apple: https:\/\/www.barrypopik.com\/index.php\/new_york_city\/entry\/it_does_not_require_a_majority_to_prevail_but_rather_an_irate_tireless_mino<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315829087-ce67c619-0fbcd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cSmells coat us, swirl around us, enter our bodies, emanate from us. We live in a constant wash of them. Still, when we try to describe a smell, words fail us like the fabrications they are. Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990) New York: Vintage\u00a0Books edition, 1995, p. 7<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531591631-43861bc7-da28094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Non-fiction]:<\/p>\n

\u201cInhaling and exhaling, we smell odors. Smells coat us, swirl around us, enter our bodies, emanate from us. We live in a constant wash of them. Still, when we try to describe a smell, words fail us like the fabrications they are. Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world.<\/span>\u201d (p. 7)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1449531592891-f39e055b-a66e094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library \u2013 A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990|1995 Vintage Books ed.), International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 9780679735663<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1ed258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cThe great affair, the love affair with life, is to live as variously as possible, to groom one\u2019s curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sun-struck hills every day. Where there is no risk, the emotional terrain is flat and unyielding, and, despite all its dimensions, valleys, pinnacles, and detours, life will seem to have none of its magnificent geography, only a length. It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990) Final lines of postscript, New York: Vintage Books edition, 1995, p. 309<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bfd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Non-fiction]:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great affair, the love affair with life, is to live as variously as possible, to groom one\u2019s curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sun-struck hills every day. Where there is no risk, the emotional terrain is flat and unyielding, and, despite all its dimensions, valleys, pinnacles, and detours, life will seem to have none of its magnificent geography, only a length. It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e0d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library \u2013 A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990|1995 Vintage Books ed.), International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 9780679735663<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315829087-ce67c619-0fbcd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cThe senses don\u2019t just make sense<\/em> of life in bold or subtle acts of clarity, they tear reality apart into vibrant morsels and reassemble them into a meaningful pattern.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990) New York: Vintage\u00a0Books edition, 1995, p. xvii<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315829475-7c82a017-1e62d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Introduction to non-fiction text]:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe senses don\u2019t just make sense<\/em> of life in bold or subtle acts of clarity, they tear reality apart into vibrant morsels and reassemble them into a meaningful pattern.<\/span> They take contingency samples. They allow an instance to stand for a mob. They negotiate and settle for a reasonable version and make small, delicate transactions.\u201d (p. xvii)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1453315829682-63e8fade-cf4cd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – A Natural History of Love<\/em> (1994) International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 0-679-76183-7<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315829087-ce67c619-0fbcd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cWe live on the leash of our senses.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990) Final lines of postscript, New York: Vintage Books edition, 1995, p. 309<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bfd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Introduction to non-fiction text]:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is both our panic and our privilege to be mortal and sense-full. We live on the leash of our senses. Although they enlarge us, they also limit and restrain us, but how beautifully.<\/span> Love is a beautiful bondage, too.\u201d (p. xviii)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e0d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library \u2013 A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990|1995 Vintage Books ed.), International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 9780679735663<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1ed258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cWhere there is no risk, the emotional terrain is flat and unyielding, and, despite all its dimensions, valleys, pinnacles, and detours, life will seem to have none of its magnificent geography, only a length.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990) Postscript, New York: Vintage Books edition, 1995, p. 309<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315829475-7c82a017-1e62d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Non-fiction]:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great affair, the love affair with life, is to live as variously as possible, to groom one\u2019s curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sun-struck hills every day. Where there is no risk, the emotional terrain is flat and unyielding, and, despite all its dimensions, valleys, pinnacles, and detours, life will seem to have none of its magnificent geography, only a length.<\/span> It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.\u201d (p. 309)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1453315829682-63e8fade-cf4cd258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – A Natural History of Love<\/em> (1994) International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 0-679-76183-7<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531591105-7edf5f39-feaa094f-cf63d258-0b6b”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cWords are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world. But they are shapes, they bring the world into focus, they corral ideas, they hone thoughts, they paint watercolors of perception.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, American author & naturalist<\/p>\n

A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990) Final lines of postscript, New York: Vintage Books edition, 1995, p. 7<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1539013246227-d5b22b48-91a8″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Non-fiction text]:<\/p>\n

\u201cStill, when we try to describe a smell, words fail us like the fabrications they are. Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world. But they are shapes, they bring the world into focus, they corral ideas, they hone thoughts, they paint watercolors of perception.<\/span>\u201d (p. 7)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1539013246375-d58bb486-6fe7″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library \u2013 A Natural History of the Senses<\/em> (1990|1995 Vintage Books ed.), International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 9780679735663[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n

Resources<\/h4>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” el_class=”Wrapper-Author-Resources”]Learn More About Diane Ackerman\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>| Here are a few good places to find out more –<\/p>\n