Inner world Quote by James Joyce
““He drew forth a phrase from his treasure and spoke it softly to himself: --a day of dappled seaborne clouds. The phrase and the day and the scene harmonised in a chord. Words. Was it their colours? He allowed them to glow and fade, hue after hue: sunrise gold, the russet and green of apple orchards, azure of waves, the greyfringed fleece of clouds. No, it was not their colours: it was the poise and balance of the period itself. Did he then love the rhythmic rise and fall of words better than their associations of legend and colour? Or was it that, being as weak of sight as he was shy of mind, he drew less pleasure from the reflection of the glowing sensible world through the prism of a language manycoloured and richly storied than from the contemplation of an inner world of individual emotions mirrored perfectly in a lucid supple periodic prose? He passed from the trembling bridge on to firm land again.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916
The passage describes a writer’s focus on the rhythm and balance of language itself rather than its vivid imagery, reflecting an inner emotional world through measured prose.
In simple terms: A writer values the flow of words over their colorful meanings.
Key Takeaway
Appreciate the cadence of language.
Themes
literature
language
perception
inner world
rhythm
Mood
contemplative
introspective
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- creative writing
- reading analysis
- personal reflection
- literary criticism
Key Concepts
Aestheticism
subjective experience
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- How does rhythm shape your understanding of a text?
- Do you prefer emotional resonance over visual description?
A Different Perspective
The emphasis on rhythm may overlook the power of vivid imagery.
![“Men who read a lot have a more sensitive disposition, added Fowler. [...] I did not know what to say to this. Maybe reading is a sort of curse is all I mean, concluded Fowler. Maybe it's better for a man to stay inside his own mind. Amen, I felt like saying, although I do not know why.” quote by Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe3/dan-simmons-968_books_men-who-read-a-lot-have-a-more-sensitive_159615.jpg)