Echoes Across Time

When the Work Feels Like Play

The creative tradition that takes joy seriously: Voltaire, Zora Neale Hurston, Roald Dahl, Richard Feynman, Wisława Szymborska. The artists who never forgot how to play.

40 total quotes

“
Music is nothing else but wild sounds civilised into time and tune.

—Nnenna FreelonArtist

Contemporary ERA • North America

“
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away.

—Roald DahlNovelist

Post-War ERA • Western Europe

“
My mouth is a mango. My tongue is a ripe plum.

—Grace NicholsPoet

Late Modern ERA • Caribbean

“
I never thought of myself as a fashion icon. I just dress.

—RihannaScholar & Thinker

Digital Age ERA • Caribbean

“
I prefer the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing poems.

—Wisława SzymborskaPoet

Late Modern ERA • Eastern Europe

“
In the moon's light, a snail is dreaming of Fuji.

—Yosa BusonPoet & Painter

Enlightenment ERA • East Asia

“
La luna es una copa de vino. Y mi deseo, una gota de miel.

—Delmira AgustiniPoet

Early Modern ERA • Latin America

“
Five minutes are enough to dream a whole life, that is the advantage of dreaming.

—Mario BenedettiNovelist, Poet & Playwright

Post-War ERA • Latin America

“
I am a parrot of India, question me in Hindawi, so I may speak.

—Amir KhusrowMusician, Poet & Scholar

Medieval ERA • South Asia

“
A story is like a woman, only one that is not meant to be forgotten.

—Isaac BabelWriter

Early Modern ERA • Eastern Europe

“
Let us crown ourselves with roses, let us drink wine.

—AnacreonLyric Poet

Ancient World ERA • Southern Europe

“
Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.

—Hans Christian AndersenAuthor & Poet

Industrial Age ERA • Nordic

“
Language is a trap. I try to make it spring.

—Sony Labou TansiPlaywright & Novelist

Late Modern ERA • West Africa

“
I want to make music that makes people think and dance.

—Fela KutiMusician, Composer & Activist

Post-War ERA • West Africa

“
Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.

—Richard FeynmanPhysicist & General

Post-War ERA • North America

“
Words are like a basketball. You can dribble them, shoot them, pass them.

—Kwame AlexanderPoet & Author

Digital Age ERA • North America

“
Man is never so truly himself as when he is at play.

—Friedrich SchillerPoet, Philosopher & Playwright

Enlightenment ERA • Western Europe

“
Give me wine, give me song, give me a beloved to behold.

—Mahsati GanjaviPoet

Medieval ERA • Central Asia

“
The perfect is the enemy of the good.

—VoltaireWriter, Historian & Philosopher

Enlightenment ERA • Western Europe

“
From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.

—Dr. SeussAuthor & Illustrator

Post-War ERA • North America

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