Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood, you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim through the wood; aim for the chopping block.

Quote by Annie Dillard

Topics: Annie Dillard Quotes

Cruelty is a mystery and a waste of pain

Cruelty is a mystery and a waste of pain

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

An Inuit hunter asked the local missionary priest: If I did not know about God...

An Inuit hunter asked the local missionary priest: If I did not know about God...

Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved...

Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved...

The painter... does not fit the paints to the world. He most certainly does not...

The painter... does not fit the paints to the world. He most certainly does not...

People love pretty much the same things best. A writer looking for subject inquires not...

People love pretty much the same things best. A writer looking for subject inquires not...

Eskimo: If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?...

Eskimo: If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?...

There is a certain age at which a child looks at you in all earnestness...

There is a certain age at which a child looks at you in all earnestness...

The writer studies literature, not the world. He is careful of what he reads, for...

The writer studies literature, not the world. He is careful of what he reads, for...

Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you.

Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you.

Appealing workplaces are to be avoided. One wants a room with no view, so imagination...

Appealing workplaces are to be avoided. One wants a room with no view, so imagination...

It is ironic that the one thing that all religions recognize as separating us from...

It is ironic that the one thing that all religions recognize as separating us from...

The dedicated life is worth living. You must give with your whole heart.

The dedicated life is worth living. You must give with your whole heart.

I think the dying pray at the last not please but thank you as a...

I think the dying pray at the last not please but thank you as a...

You can't test courage cautiously.

You can't test courage cautiously.

There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind.

There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind.

There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to...

There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to...

Crystals grew inside rock like arithmetic flowers. They lengthened and spread, added plane to plane...

Crystals grew inside rock like arithmetic flowers. They lengthened and spread, added plane to plane...

A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It...

A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It...

Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the...

Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the...