Startled

Famous quotes containing the word startled:

    We had not gone far before I was startled by seeing what I thought was an Indian encampment, covered with a red flag, on the bank, and exclaimed, “Camp!” to my comrades. I was slow to discover that it was a red maple changed by the frost.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    This is being young,
    Assumption of the startled century
    Like new store clothes....
    Philip Larkin (1922–1986)

    At a certain age, we have already been struck by love; it no longer develops alone, according to its own mysteries and fateful laws while our hearts stand by startled and passive. We come to its assistance ... Recognizing one of its symptoms, we recall, we bring back to life the others. Since we possess its song engraved in its totality within us, we do not need for a woman to tell us the beginning—filled with admiration inspired by beauty—to find the continuation.
    Marcel Proust (1871–1922)