Daily Literature Quotes

[Chibi Altaria]

8/10

I AGREE WITH THIS DEPRESSING QUOTE. T^T I mean, I don't think I'd trade my life for something like that, but I understand where he's coming from. After all, names went a long way in those days. Heaven forbid if it were tarnished by some wrong-doing. Gotta applaud him for giving his all for his family.

[Fate]

I love The Crucible!

I like this quote and can appreciate it more because I've read the play and understand what kind of character John Proctor is. Though I don't think he "agreed to sign" anything. I think he agreed to confess to the crime of witchcraft verbally but refused to give his written name. And that's important not just to himself but to all the ones before him who had been falsely accused and hanged, since he says he's not even worth the dust at their feet. He'd already disgraced and broken himself to the point of admitting to the false deed, but his name is the only true thing left that he has to hold on to.

A sad and frustrating play! (But I gotta admit I laughed in the film adaptation when they were all hanged in the end because it was kinda funny in it. *terrible person*)

[Noblejanobii]

(But I gotta admit I laughed in the film adaptation when they were all hanged in the end because it was kinda funny in it. *terrible person*)

Everyone in my class laughed too but I think it was because they were praying the Lord's Prayer and my classmates at the time were mostly atheists, Baptists, or Presbyterians (not to attack any of those groups in any way, it's just where I live, they're all very biased and often taunt the Roman and Eastern orthodox catholics in the city). I actually thought it was a great addition because of the old legend behind the Lord's Prayer.

What is this legend? Well, supposedly witches have a contract with the devil (no surprises there). That is the only way they can use their black magic and usually you have to give your soul in exchange for this magic. This is important because the legend says in order to say the Lord's Prayer, you could not lack a soul or have dealings with the devil. Why? Well, the dealings with the devil part is an easy connection. Satan's tongue is burned if he tries to speak the prayer, so those associated with him suffer the same consequence. The other part, not so easy to connect, but if i had to guess it probably falls under the same reason as the first. Thus, a witch, which suffers both of these, cannot fully speak the Lord's Prayer. Why is this important? Well, in the movie, the three people being hung start to say the Lord's Prayer, however, none of them are able to finish. John Proctor gets the closest, only leaving off the "amen" at the end. I always thought it was a nice touch, because it leaves this sort of air of mystery as to whether or not they truly were innocent.

[Noblejanobii]

Today's Daily Literature Quote is…

The Tell-Tale Heart.[/I] by Edgar Allan Poe]"TRUE! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story."

It was only a matter of time before we got an Edgar Allen Poe quote. Sadly, it's not my favorite and most hated of his works, The Raven. Thanks to @AWA1997 for sending in this quote from The Tell-Tale Heart!

Okay, now it's been a long time since I read this story. But the long and short of it is, this guy (who I'm pretty sure is insane) kills a man and hides the body under the floorboards. Then some authorities come by (I legit cannot remember why) and the guy flips out because he thinks he hears the dead man's heart beating through the floor. He ends up confessing to the murder even though the whole heartbeat thing was in his head the whole time.

This is actually a really good example of what guilt can do to you, and this quote specifically is probably the best example in the story itself. Guilt is dangerous, both when you are affected by it and when you are numb to it. If you do something and feel guilty, it can eat you from the inside out, causing you to make rasher decisions and possibly confessing to the act in the worst possible way. On the other hand, if you become numb to guilt, you can keep committing the act with no remorse and depending on what it is (like murder or lying), this can have some horrible results. So the moral of the story is, don't murder people, I guess? Also confess if you've done something wrong or just don't do it in the first place.

[AWA1997]

Wow, one entry and I get it randomly out of probably a ton of quotes submitted so far.

Well, I like the quote because it sets up the story perfectly, showing you the state of mind the man was in. If you've never read it or heard of it, you start to wonder what he's talking about and see just how crazy he is the longer you read. He kills an old man, who he explicitly tells you he has no problem with and who he trusts and trusts him because he's blind in one eye that, from what I can tell, is incapable of closing. Then, as Jan said, he lost the rest of his sanity because of the guilt, which got much, much worse when the authorities appeared out of nowhere because a neighbor had heard the old man's last cry before he died.

[Ganyu]

I really loved reading The Tell-Tale Heart. It's so morbid and I love morbidity. Such a fascinating exhibition of the psychosis inflicted by one's guilt. Poe's awesome.

[Suicune's Fire]

I remember reading this story in high school at some point...maybe year 8 or 9? Don't know specifically, but it's a good story. I practically only know this one and The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. Guilt is extremely powerful, as shown in this tale. 8/10 for the quote...

[AWA1997]

@Ghostwriter Edgar Allan Poe is the king of the morbid XD

[Noblejanobii]

@Ghostwriter Edgar Allan Poe is the king of the morbid XD

If you look up the word morbid in the dictionary all you'll see if a picture of Poe.

[Fate]

I was looking for a Poe quote but didn't know which one I should submit. xD

Anyway, I'm glad a Poe quote surfaced. I love Poe! My favorite writer after Oscar Wilde. I love the dark and morbid stuff. But what I love most about him is that while he's the master of horror, it's not much of the in-your-face, jump-scare kind of horror and more the psychological, messing-with-your-brain kind. That's awesome.

The Tell-Tale Heart is fun. It ends up being more disturbing what goes on inside the man's mind than what he actually did.