N. Scott Momaday
"In the white man's world, language, too -- and the way which the white man thinks of it--has undergone a process of change. The white man takes such things as words and literatures for granted, as indeed he must, for nothing in his world is so commonplace. On every side of him there are words by the millions, an unending succession of pamphlets and papers, letters and books, bills and bulletins, commentaries and conversations. He has diluted and multiplied the Word, and words have begun to close in on him. He is sated and insensitive; his regard for language -- for the Word itself -- as an instrument of creation has diminished nearly to the point of no return. It may be that he will perish by the Word."
10 Quotes
"In the white man's world, language, too -- and the way which the white man thinks of it--has undergone a process of change. The white man takes such things as words and literatures for granted, as indeed he must, for nothing in his world is so commonplace. On every side of him there are words by the millions, an unending succession of pamphlets and papers, letters and books, bills and bulletins, commentaries and conversations. He has diluted and multiplied the Word, and words have begun to close in on him. He is sated and insensitive; his regard for language -- for the Word itself -- as an instrument of creation has diminished nearly to the point of no return. It may be that he will perish by the Word."
"في عالم الرجل الأبيض، خضعت اللغة أيضاً – وطريقة تفكيره فيها – لعملية تحول. فهو يعدّ الكلمات والآداب من المسلّمات، وهو محقٌ في ذلك، فليس في عالمه ما هو أكثر شيوعاً منها. تحيط به الكلمات بالملايين من كل حدب وصوب، سيلٌ لا ينقطع من المنشورات والأوراق، الرسائل والكتب، الفواتير والنشرات، التعليقات والمحادثات. لقد أفرغ الكلمة من معناها وأكثر من تداولها، وبدأت الكلمات تضيق عليه الخناق. لقد بات متخماً بها وفاقداً للإحساس؛ وتضاءل تقديره للغة – للكلمة ذاتها – كأداة للخلق، حتى كاد يبلغ نقطة اللاعودة. قد يكون هلاكه بالكلمة."
N. Scott Momaday
House Made of Dawn
"There was only the dark infinity in which nothing was. And something happened. At the distance of a star something happened, and everything began. The Word did not come into being, but it was. It did not break upon the silence, but it was older than the silence and the silence was made of it."
"كان هناك العدم المظلم اللانهائي فحسب. ثم حدث شيء. على بُعد نجم، حدث شيء، وبدأ كل شيء. لم تتكون الكلمة، بل كانت موجودة. لم تنبثق على الصمت، بل كانت أقدم من الصمت، والصمت صُنع منها."
N. Scott Momaday
House Made of Dawn
"I wonder if, in the dark night of the sea, the octopus dreams of me."
"أَتُرَى الأُخْطُبوطَ، في لَيْلِ البَحْرِ الدَّامِسِ، يَحْلُمُ بِي؟"
N. Scott Momaday
"To encounter the sacred is to be alive at the deepest center of human existence. Sacred places are the truest definitions of the earth; they stand for the earth immediately and forever; they are its flags and shields. If you would know the earth for what it really is, learn it through its sacred places. At Devil’s Tower or Canyon de Chelly or the Cahokia Mounds, you touch the pulse of the living planet; you feel its breath upon you. You become one with a spirit that pervades geologic time and space."
"إن لقاء المقدس هو أن تحيا في أعمق أعماق الكينونة البشرية. الأماكن المقدسة هي أصدق تعريف للأرض؛ إنها تمثل الأرض في جوهرها الأبدي؛ هي راياتها ودروعها. إن أردت أن تدرك الأرض على حقيقتها، فاعرفها عبر أماكنها المقدسة. في برج الشيطان أو وادي دي شيلي أو تلال كاهوكيا، تلامس نبض الكوكب الحي؛ وتحس بأنفاسه تلامسك. تتحد بروح تتغلغل في الزمان والمكان الجيولوجي."
N. Scott Momaday
"As far as I am concerned, poetry is a statement concerning the human condition, composed in verse."
"الشعر، في نظري، بيانٌ عن حال الإنسان، مصوغٌ في أبيات."
N. Scott Momaday
"I have a pretty good knowledge of the Indian world by virtue of living on several different reservations and being exposed to several different cultures and languages."
"إن لي معرفة لا بأس بها بالعالم الهندي، اكتسبتها من عيشي في عدة محميات مختلفة واحتكاكي بثقافات ولغات شتى."
N. Scott Momaday
"We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. Our best destiny is to imagine, at least, completely, who and what, and that we are. The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined."
N. Scott Momaday
"To encounter the sacred is to be alive at the deepest center of human existence. Sacred places are the truest definitions of the earth; they stand for the earth immediately and forever; they are its flags and shields. If you would know the earth for what it really is, learn it through its sacred places. At Devil’s Tower or Canyon de Chelly or the Cahokia Mounds, you touch the pulse of the living planet; you feel its breath upon you. You become one with a spirit that pervades geologic time and space."
N. Scott Momaday
"Writing engenders in us certain attitudes toward language. It encourages us to take words for granted. Writing has enabled us to store vast quantities of words indefinitely. This is advantageous on the one hand but dangerous on the other. The result is that we have developed a kind of false security where language is concerned, and our sensitivity to language has deteriorated. And we have become in proportion insensitive to silence."
N. Scott Momaday
✉️
Get more quotes like N. Scott Momaday's — every morning.
Join thousands of wisdom seekers getting daily quotes from 300,000+ curated sources.
Free forever. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
🎉 Check your inbox to confirm your subscription!