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OP Quote:
ah... possibly Mark Twain
What am I saying Twain... it was William James.
Quote:
Suppose we try to recall a forgotten name. The state of our consciousness is peculiar. There is a gap therein; but no mere gap. It is a gap that is intensely active. A sort of wraith of the name is in it, beckoning us in a given direction, making us at moments tingle with the sense of our closeness, and then letting us sink back without the longed-for term If wrong names are proposed to us, this singularly definite gap acts immediately so as to negate them. They do not fit into its mould. And the gap of one word does not feel like the gap of another, all empty of content as both might seem necessarily to be when described as gaps. When I vainly try to recall the name of Spalding, my consciousness is far removed from what it is when I vainly try to recall the name of Bowles. There are innumerable consciousnesses of want, no one of which taken in itself has a name, but all are different from each other. Such a feeling of want is toto coelo other than a want of feeling: it is an intense feeling. The rhythm of a lost word may be there without a sound to clothe it; or the evanescent sense of something which is the initial vowel or consonant may mock us fitfully, without growing more distinct. Every one must know the tantalizing effect of the blank rhythm of some forgotten verse, restlessly dancing in one's mind, striving to be filled out with words.
William James, The Stream of Consciousness (1892)
Last edited by Stag_Beetle; 03/04/06 08:04 PM.
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted The threshold of remembrance Stag_Beetle 03/04/06 07:20 AM Re: The threshold of remembrance tsuwm 03/04/06 05:15 PM Re: The threshold of remembrance Father Steve 03/04/06 06:37 PM Re: The threshold of remembrance Stag_Beetle 03/04/06 07:45 PM A TOT experience Stag_Beetle 03/04/06 07:58 PM Re: The threshold of remembrance Sparteye 03/05/06 02:47 AM Re: The threshold of remembrance belMarduk 03/05/06 03:00 AM Re: The threshold of remembrance tsuwm 03/05/06 03:56 AM Re: The threshold of remembrance belMarduk 03/05/06 01:49 PM Re: The threshold of remembrance themilum 03/05/06 03:17 PM Re: The threshold of remembrance Stag_Beetle 03/04/06 08:04 PM Re: The threshold of remembrance Stag_Beetle 03/04/06 08:27 PM Re: The threshold of remembrance Myridon 03/06/06 04:42 PM Re: The threshold of remembrance belMarduk 03/04/06 10:01 PM Re: The threshold of remembrance tsuwm 03/04/06 10:12 PM Re: The threshold of remembrance Stag_Beetle 03/05/06 12:49 AM
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