Iron Saints

Famous quotes containing the words iron and/or saints:

    “I was even more surprised at the power of the waves, exhibited on this shattered fragment, than I had been at the sight of the smaller fragments before. The largest timbers and iron braces were broken superfluously, and I saw that no material could withstand the power of the waves; that iron must go to pieces in such a case, and an iron vessel would be cracked up like an egg- shell on the rocks.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “Is America a land of God where saints abide for ever? Where golden fields spread fair and broad, where flows the crystal river? Certainly not flush with saints, and a good thing, too, for the saints sent buzzing into man’s ken now are but poor- mouthed ecclesiastical film stars and cliché-shouting publicity agents.
    Their little knowledge bringing them nearer to their ignorance,
    Ignorance bringing them nearer to death,
    But nearness to death no nearer to God.”
    —Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)