Tent Caterpillars

Famous quotes containing the words tent and/or caterpillars:

    A stranger came one night to Yussouf’s tent,
    Saying, “Behold one outcast and in dread,
    Against whose life the bow of power is bent,
    Who flies, and hath not where to lay his head;
    I come to thee for shelter and for food,
    To Yussouf, called through all our tribes ‘he Good.’ “

    “This tent is mine,” said Yussouf, “but no more
    Than it is God’s; come in, and be at peace;
    James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)

    It is the fixed that horrifies us, the fixed that assails us with the tremendous force of mindlessness. The fixed is a Mason jar, and we can’t beat it open. ...The fixed is a world without fire--dead flint, dead tinder, and nowhere a spark. It is motion without direction, force without power, the aimless procession of caterpillars round the rim of a vase, and I hate it because at any moment I myself might step to that charmed and glistening thread.
    Annie Dillard (b. 1945)