Abstract

Famous quotes containing the word abstract:

    ... my whole existence is governed by abstract ideas.... the ideal must be preserved regardless of fact.
    Mary Corinna Putnam (1842–1906)

    For although memories, of a season, for example,
    Melt into a single snapshot, one cannot guard, treasure
    That stalled moment. It too is flowing, fleeting;
    It is a picture of flowing, scenery, though living, mortal,
    Over which an abstract action is laid out in blunt,
    Harsh strokes.
    John Ashbery (b. 1927)

    The reader uses his eyes as well as or instead of his ears and is in every way encouraged to take a more abstract view of the language he sees. The written or printed sentence lends itself to structural analysis as the spoken does not because the reader’s eye can play back and forth over the words, giving him time to divide the sentence into visually appreciated parts and to reflect on the grammatical function.
    J. David Bolter (b. 1951)