Dust Quote by James Joyce
““Dust webbed the window and the showtrays. Dust darkened the toiling fingers with their vulture nails. Dust slept on dull coils of bronze and silver, lozenges of cinnabar, on rubies, leprous and winedark stones.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Ulysses, 1922
Dust pervades objects, symbolizing decay and the passage of time across varied surfaces.
In simple terms: Dust shows decay and time’s effect.
Key Takeaway
Notice impermanence in surroundings.
Themes
decay
time
observation
Mood
melancholic
contemplative
Type
literary
descriptive
When to use this quote
- home cleaning
- archaeology
- artistic description
Key Concepts
literary imagery
existentialism
Questions to Reflect On
- What does dust represent in your life?
- How does noticing decay affect appreciation?
A Different Perspective
Some may view dust as trivial.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
