Quentin Crisp
"Without an element of vulgarity, no man can be a work of art... I have to try and think what an artist is, apart from a hooligan who cannot live within his income of praise."
21 Quotes
"Without an element of vulgarity, no man can be a work of art... I have to try and think what an artist is, apart from a hooligan who cannot live within his income of praise."
"لا يمكن لإنسان أن يكون تحفة فنية دون مسحة من الابتذال... عليّ أن أحاول التفكير فيما هو الفنان، سوى مشاغب لا يستطيع العيش ضمن دخله من المديح."
Quentin Crisp
"If a man were to look over the fence on one side of his garden and observe that the neighbor on his left had laid his garden path round a central lawn; and were to look over the fence on the other side of his garden and observe that the neighbor on his right had laid his path down the middle of the lawn, and were then to lay his own garden path diagonally from one corner to the other, that man's soul would be lost. Originality is only to be praised when not prefaced by the look to right and left."
"لو أن رجلاً أطلّ من سياج حديقته فرأى جاره الأيسر قد شقّ ممشى حديقته حول حديقة مركزية؛ ثم أطلّ من سياجها الآخر فرأى جاره الأيمن قد شقّ ممشاه في منتصف الحديقة، ثم عمد هو إلى شقّ ممشى حديقته قطرياً من زاوية إلى أخرى، لضاعت روح ذلك الرجل. فالأصالة لا تُحمد إلا إذا لم تسبقها نظرة إلى اليمين واليسار."
Quentin Crisp
The Naked Civil Servant
"I am unable to believe in a God susceptible to prayer. I simply haven't the nerve to imagine a being, a force, a cause which keeps the planets revolving in their orbits, and then suddenly stops in order to give me a bicycle with three speeds."
"يستحيل عليّ الإيمان بإله تُحرّكه الصلاة. لا أجرؤ ببساطة على تخيّل كائن، قوة، سبب، يُسيّر الكواكب في أفلاكها، ثم يُحوّل اهتمامه فجأة ليمنحني دراجة بثلاث سرعات."
Quentin Crisp
"It is not the simple statement of facts that ushers in freedom; it is the constant repetition of them that has this liberating effect. Tolerance is the result not of enlightenment, but of boredom."
"ليست الحرية في مجرد إفصاح الحقائق، بل في إعادتها المتواصلة يكمن مفعولها التحريري. أما التسامح، فليس وليد التنوير، بل هو ثمرة الضجر."
Quentin Crisp
"The formula for achieving a successful relationship is simple: you should treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a triviality as if it were a disaster."
"مفتاح العلاقة الناجحة بسيط: أن تتعامل مع عظيم"
Quentin Crisp
"Though intelligence is powerless to modify character, it is a dab hand at finding euphemisms for its weaknesses."
"إن الذكاء، وإن عجز عن تغيير الطباع، لبارع في اختراع التلطفات لنقائصها."
Quentin Crisp
"The consuming desire of most human beings is deliberately to plant their whole life in the hands of some other person. I would describe this method of searching for happiness as immature. Development of character consists solely in moving toward self-sufficiency."
"إن الرغبة المستحكمة لدى غالب البشر هي أن يودعوا حياتهم بأسرها عمدًا في يد شخص آخر. وإني لأصف هذا المسلك في طلب السعادة بأنه غير ناضج. فإن نماء الشخصية لا يتأتى إلا بالتوجه نحو الاكتفاء الذاتي."
Quentin Crisp
"The idea that He would take his attention away from the universe in order to give me a bicycle with three speeds is just so unlikely I can't go along with it."
Quentin Crisp
"Ask yourself, if there was to be no blame, and if there was to be no praise, who would I be then?"
Quentin Crisp
"Without an element of vulgarity, no man can be a work of art... I have to try and think what an artist is, apart from a hooligan who cannot live within his income of praise."
Quentin Crisp
"Nothing in our culture, not even home computers, is more overrated than the epidermal felicity of two featherless bipeds in desperate congress."
Quentin Crisp
"The search for a life-style involves a journey to the interior. This is not altogether a pleasant experience, because you not only have to take stock of what you consider your assets but you also have to take a long look at what your friends call “the trouble with you.” Nevertheless, the journey is worth making."
Quentin Crisp
"There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse."
Quentin Crisp
"I am unable to believe in a God susceptible to prayer. I simply haven't the nerve to imagine a being, a force, a cause which keeps the planets revolving in their orbits, and then suddenly stops in order to give me a bicycle with three speeds."
Quentin Crisp
"The British do not expect happiness. I had the impression, all the time that I lived there, that they do not want to be happy; they want to be right."
Quentin Crisp
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