I just read this passage in Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and I think it is so beautiful. I love language that is so finely written that you want to read it over and over again.
"She knew how to hit to a hair's-breadth that moment of evening when the light and the darkness are so evenly balanced that the constraint of day and the suspense of night neutralize each other, leaving absolute mental liberty. It is then that the plight of being alive becomes attenuated to its least-possible dimension."
I have probably read that passage ten times now. I understand what it means on a personal level because it speaks to me. It makes me happy.
And even though language can be hurtful and destructive, I am still grateful for the goodness of language. For language is as important to the way we relate to people as air is important to how we live.
The words we say but do not mean, the words we mean but do not say. The language of love. The language of the body. Foreign languages. The language of music, art, and literature. The language of silence. The language of prayer.
Powerful stuff.
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