--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Permanence has been swept aside by the…" description: "\"“Permanence has been swept aside by the rapidity of empty images. The pantheon, we discover to our astonishment, is the doghouse of the burning asylum...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3d/roberto-bola-o-725_permanence_permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-r_791546.jpg" --- # Permanence has been swept aside by the rapidity of empty… ![“Permanence has been swept aside by the rapidity of empty images. The pantheon, we discover to our astonishment, is the doghouse of the burning asylum... We think our brain is a marble mausoleum, when in fact it's a house made of cardboard boxes, a shack stranded between an empty field and an…” quote by Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3d/roberto-bola-o-725_permanence_permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-r_791546.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3d/roberto-bola-o-725_permanence_permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-r_791546.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3d/roberto-bola-o-725_permanence_permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-r_791546.jpg) > ““Permanence has been swept aside by the rapidity of empty images. The pantheon, we discover to our astonishment, is the doghouse of the burning asylum... We think our brain is a marble mausoleum, when in fact it's a house made of cardboard boxes, a shack stranded between an empty field and an endless dusk.”” [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on the fleeting nature of images and the fragile, makes reality of the mind. **In simple terms:** Images change fast; our minds are fragile. Key Takeaway Recognize the impermanence of perception. Themes impermanence perception mental fragility artistic critique Mood reflective poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - digital media consumption - art analysis - psychological reflection Key Concepts existentialism postmodernism media theory Questions to Reflect On - What does the 'doghouse of the burning asylum' symbolize? - How do empty images affect our thoughts? A Different Perspective The abstract style may be inaccessible to some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Permanence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permanence/) ## Related quotes > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [When you are in a relationship, you are aware that it might end. You might grow apart, find someone else, simply fall out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-giffin/when-you-are-in-a-relationship-you-are-aware-that-it-might-end-you/) [Emily Giffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-giffin/) > [Leaving the people and places you love, is a reminder of the impermanence of this life. And the permanence of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/leaving-the-people-and-places-you-love-is-a-reminder-of-the/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [“We have familiar experience of the order, the constancy, the perpetual renovation of the material world which surrounds us. Frail and transitory as is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/we-have-familiar-experience-of-the-order-the-constancy-the-perpetual/) [William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/) > [“Death was surely not an ephemeral interloper; its lasting effect was grating and horrible and one was constantly reminded of the permanence of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-h-roth/death-was-surely-not-an-ephemeral-interloper-its-lasting-effect-was/) [Henry H. Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-h-roth/) > [“Permanence is an illusion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-rathbone/permanence-is-an-illusion/) [Brian Rathbone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-rathbone/) > [“I, too, had set out to be remembered. I had wanted to create something permanent in my life- some proof that everything in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-too-had-set-out-to-be-remembered-i-had-wanted-to-create-something/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [Even the existence of this corporeal element, low as it in reality is, because it is the source of death and all evils, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/even-the-existence-of-this-corporeal-element-low-as-it-in-reality-is/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [“ The illusion of permanence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-ching/the-illusion-of-permanence/) [I Ching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/i-ching/) > [“To recklessly excuse a failure is to believe that I’ve effectively erased it from the story of my life, when I’ve actually imprinted it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-recklessly-excuse-a-failure-is-to-believe-that-i-ve-effectively/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“if you repeat a temporary answer often enough, it acquires a degree of permanency.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-mcmurtry/if-you-repeat-a-temporary-answer-often-enough-it-acquires-a-degree-of/) [Larry McMurtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-mcmurtry/) > [A building is akin to dogma; it is insolent, like dogma. Whether or no it is permanent, it claims permanence, like a dogma. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/a-building-is-akin-to-dogma-it-is-insolent-like-dogma-whether-or-no/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Science has sometimes been said to be opposed to faith, and inconsistent with it. But all science, in fact, rests on a basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/science-has-sometimes-been-said-to-be-opposed-to-faith-and/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [It is merely the egoism of the man, who wants to bury a woman like a treasure. All attempts at using vows, contracts, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/it-is-merely-the-egoism-of-the-man-who-wants-to-bury-a-woman-like-a/) [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/) > [It is the logic of consumerism that undermines the values of loyalty and permanence and promotes a different set of values that is destructive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-lasch/it-is-the-logic-of-consumerism-that-undermines-the-values-of-loyalty/) [Christopher Lasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-lasch/) ## More by Roberto Bolaño > [Literature + Illness = Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/literature-illness-illness/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“Brief like beauty, Absolute beauty, That which contains all the world's majesty and misery And which is only visible to those who love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/brief-like-beauty-absolute-beauty-that-which-contains-all-the-world-s/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“There are books for when you’re bored. Plenty of them. There are books for when you’re calm. The best kind, in my opinion. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/there-are-books-for-when-you-re-bored-plenty-of-them-there-are-books/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“I try to find the books that I lost or forgot more than 30 years ago on another continent, with the hope and dedication…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/i-try-to-find-the-books-that-i-lost-or-forgot-more-than-30-years-ago/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“In a word, and bluntly: as they walked around Sankt Pauli, it came to Pelletier and Espinoza that the search for Archimboldi could never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/in-a-word-and-bluntly-as-they-walked-around-sankt-pauli-it-came-to/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [We're artists too, but we do a good job hiding it, don't we?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/we-re-artists-too-but-we-do-a-good-job-hiding-it-don-t-we/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [Nothing good ever comes of love. What comes of love is always something better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/nothing-good-ever-comes-of-love-what-comes-of-love-is-always/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“book on Archimboldi, a book that might be the grand Archimboldian opus, the pilot fish that would swim for a long time beside the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/book-on-archimboldi-a-book-that-might-be-the-grand-archimboldian-opus/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [Literature is the product of a strange rain of blood, sweat, semen, and tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/literature-is-the-product-of-a-strange-rain-of-blood-sweat-semen-and/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“The brief sound is like a color swallowed by a crack. But what color?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/the-brief-sound-is-like-a-color-swallowed-by-a-crack-but-what-color/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“All horrors are dulled by routine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/all-horrors-are-dulled-by-routine/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“The fourth dimension, he liked to say, encompasses the three dimensions and consequently puts them in their place, that is, it obliterates the dictatorship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/the-fourth-dimension-he-liked-to-say-encompasses-the-three-dimensions/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [Every book in the world is out there waiting to be read by me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/every-book-in-the-world-is-out-there-waiting-to-be-read-by-me/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“Y después de coger a mi general le gustaba salir al patio a fumarse su cigarro y a pensar en la tristeza poscoito, en…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/y-despu-s-de-coger-a-mi-general-le-gustaba-salir-al-patio-a-fumarse/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“I enjoy vegetarian food like I enjoy a kick in the stomach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/i-enjoy-vegetarian-food-like-i-enjoy-a-kick-in-the-stomach/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) [Explore all 303 Roberto Bolaño quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) ## More Permanence quotes > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [It is merely the egoism of the man, who wants to bury a woman like a treasure. All attempts at using vows, contracts, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/it-is-merely-the-egoism-of-the-man-who-wants-to-bury-a-woman-like-a/) [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/) > [Science has sometimes been said to be opposed to faith, and inconsistent with it. But all science, in fact, rests on a basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/science-has-sometimes-been-said-to-be-opposed-to-faith-and/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [A building is akin to dogma; it is insolent, like dogma. Whether or no it is permanent, it claims permanence, like a dogma. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/a-building-is-akin-to-dogma-it-is-insolent-like-dogma-whether-or-no/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [“if you repeat a temporary answer often enough, it acquires a degree of permanency.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-mcmurtry/if-you-repeat-a-temporary-answer-often-enough-it-acquires-a-degree-of/) [Larry McMurtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-mcmurtry/) > [“To recklessly excuse a failure is to believe that I’ve effectively erased it from the story of my life, when I’ve actually imprinted it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-recklessly-excuse-a-failure-is-to-believe-that-i-ve-effectively/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“ The illusion of permanence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-ching/the-illusion-of-permanence/) [I Ching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/i-ching/) > [Even the existence of this corporeal element, low as it in reality is, because it is the source of death and all evils, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/even-the-existence-of-this-corporeal-element-low-as-it-in-reality-is/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [“I, too, had set out to be remembered. I had wanted to create something permanent in my life- some proof that everything in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-too-had-set-out-to-be-remembered-i-had-wanted-to-create-something/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [“Permanence is an illusion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-rathbone/permanence-is-an-illusion/) [Brian Rathbone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-rathbone/) > [“Death was surely not an ephemeral interloper; its lasting effect was grating and horrible and one was constantly reminded of the permanence of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-h-roth/death-was-surely-not-an-ephemeral-interloper-its-lasting-effect-was/) [Henry H. Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-h-roth/) > [“We have familiar experience of the order, the constancy, the perpetual renovation of the material world which surrounds us. Frail and transitory as is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/we-have-familiar-experience-of-the-order-the-constancy-the-perpetual/) [William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/) > [Leaving the people and places you love, is a reminder of the impermanence of this life. And the permanence of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/leaving-the-people-and-places-you-love-is-a-reminder-of-the/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [When you are in a relationship, you are aware that it might end. You might grow apart, find someone else, simply fall out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-giffin/when-you-are-in-a-relationship-you-are-aware-that-it-might-end-you/) [Emily Giffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-giffin/) > [It is the logic of consumerism that undermines the values of loyalty and permanence and promotes a different set of values that is destructive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-lasch/it-is-the-logic-of-consumerism-that-undermines-the-values-of-loyalty/) [Christopher Lasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-lasch/) [Browse all 267 Permanence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permanence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Permanence has been swept aside by the rapidity of empty images. The pantheon, we discover to our astonishment, is the doghouse of the burning asylum... We think our brain is a marble mausoleum, when in fact it's a house made of cardboard boxes, a shack stranded between an empty field and an endless dusk.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roberto Bolaño" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-rapidity-of-empty-images-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Permanence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-rapidity-of-empty-images-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3d/roberto-bola-o-725_permanence_permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-r_791546.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3d/roberto-bola-o-725_permanence_permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-r_791546.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3d/roberto-bola-o-725_permanence_permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-r_791546.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Permanence has been swept aside by the rapidity of empty images. The pantheon, we discover to our…” — Roberto Bolaño", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Roberto Bolaño", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Permanence has been swept aside by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-rapidity-of-empty-images-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/permanence-has-been-swept-aside-by-the-rapidity-of-empty-images-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```