--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He sank back into his black-and-white…" description: "\"“He sank back into his black-and-white world, his immobile world of inanimate drawings that had been granted the secret of motion, his death-world with..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/steven-millhauser-16834_accidental_he-sank-back-into-his-black-and-white-wo_2040383.png" --- # He sank back into his black-and-white world, his immobile… ![“He sank back into his black-and-white world, his immobile world of inanimate drawings that had been granted the secret of motion, his death-world with its hidden gift of life. But that life was a deeply ambiguous life, a conjurer's trick, a crafty illusion based on an accidental property of the…” quote by Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/steven-millhauser-16834_accidental_he-sank-back-into-his-black-and-white-wo_2040383.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/steven-millhauser-16834_accidental_he-sank-back-into-his-black-and-white-wo_2040383.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/steven-millhauser-16834_accidental_he-sank-back-into-his-black-and-white-wo_2040383.png) > ““He sank back into his black-and-white world, his immobile world of inanimate drawings that had been granted the secret of motion, his death-world with its hidden gift of life. But that life was a deeply ambiguous life, a conjurer's trick, a crafty illusion based on an accidental property of the retina, which retained an image for a fraction of a second after the image was no longer present. On this frail fact was erected the entire structure of the cinema, that colossal confidence game. The animated cartoon was a far more honest expression of the cinematic illusion than the so-called realistic film, because the cartoon reveled in its own illusory nature, exulted in the impossible--indeed it claimed the impossible as its own, exalted it as its own highest end, found in impossibility, in the negation of the actual, its profoundest reason for being. The animated cartoon was nothing but the poetry of the impossible--therein lay its exhilaration and its secret melancholy. For this willful violation of the actual, while it was an intoxicating release from the constriction of things, was at the same time nothing but a delusion, an attempt to outwit mortality. As such it was doomed to failure. And yet it was desperately important to smash through the constriction of the actual, to unhinge the universe and let the impossible stream in, because otherwise--well, otherwise the world was nothing but an editorial cartoon.”” [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Animated cartoons reveal cinema’s illusion by celebrating impossibility, offering both exhilaration and melancholy, yet they risk delusion. **In simple terms:** Cartoons embrace illusion, exposing cinema’s truth and limits. Key Takeaway Recognize the power and limits of illusion. Themes illusion art cinema imagination truth Mood thoughtful analytical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - film analysis - creative writing - visual arts - philosophical debate Key Concepts cinematic theory philosophy of art impossible delusion Questions to Reflect On - How does illusion shape your perception of reality? - Can realism and impossibility coexist in art? A Different Perspective The view may undervalue realistic film’s artistic merit. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being/) [Black and white](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-and-white/) [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Delusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delusion/) [Desperation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperation/) [Doom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doom/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Frailty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frailty/) [Game](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/game/) [Gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gift/) [Gift Of Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gift-of-life/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Honesty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honesty/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/image/) [Immobile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immobile/) [Inanimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inanimate/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Melancholy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/melancholy/) [Mortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortality/) [Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motion/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Outwit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outwit/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/structure/) [Trick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trick/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Violation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violation/) [Willful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willful/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I called the world of phenomena an illusion, I called my eyes and my tongue an accident, valueless phenomena. No, that is all over;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/i-called-the-world-of-phenomena-an-illusion-i-called-my-eyes-and-my/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life starts with an illusion called love and ends with the magic called death¦](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shubham-joshi/life-starts-with-an-illusion-called-love-and-ends-with-the-magic/) [Shubham Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shubham-joshi/) > [There is an old illusion. It is called good and evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/there-is-an-old-illusion-it-is-called-good-and-evil/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“When we respond to a life-threatening situation, hyperarousal is initially accompanied by constriction in our bodies and a narrowing of perceptions. Our nervous system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-a-levine/when-we-respond-to-a-life-threatening-situation-hyperarousal-is/) [Peter A. Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-a-levine/) > [“Constriction causes pain, relaxation causes happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-morgan/constriction-causes-pain-relaxation-causes-happiness/) Sean Morgan > [“Constriction alters a person’s breathing, muscle tone, and posture in order to promote efficiency and strength. Blood vessels in the skin, extremities, and internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-a-levine/constriction-alters-a-person-s-breathing-muscle-tone-and-posture-in/) [Peter A. Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-a-levine/) > [“And we, too, had a relationship— Tight wires between us, Pegs too deep to uproot, and a mind like a ring Sliding shut on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/and-we-too-had-a-relationship-tight-wires-between-us-pegs-too-deep-to/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“He looks uncomfortable, and in this respect the garb is apt. Kevin is uncomfortable; the tiny clothing replicates the same constriction that he feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/he-looks-uncomfortable-and-in-this-respect-the-garb-is-apt-kevin-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“The sick constriction of the heart was undeniable; there was a melancholy truth in the fact that it was suffering which made me, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-hayes/the-sick-constriction-of-the-heart-was-undeniable-there-was-a/) [Alfred Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-hayes/) > [The best thing about doing a realistic film is that you have the freedom to deliver your lines as natural as possible without sticking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/biju-menon/the-best-thing-about-doing-a-realistic-film-is-that-you-have-the/) [Biju Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/biju-menon/) > [I always wanted to be part of a realistic film where there is less to act and more to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tejaswi-madivada/i-always-wanted-to-be-part-of-a-realistic-film-where-there-is-less-to/) [Tejaswi Madivada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tejaswi-madivada/) > [The American public is a very specialized public. The reason it is taken as a realistic film is because inside the fable, I've put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-leone/the-american-public-is-a-very-specialized-public-the-reason-it-is/) [Sergio Leone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-leone/) > [I'd even say it's a realistic film because that's the way it happens in our heads; that was the idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-resnais/i-d-even-say-it-s-a-realistic-film-because-that-s-the-way-it-happens/) [Alain Resnais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-resnais/) > [“What is there more real, for instance, in our universe than a man's life, and how can we hope to preserve it better than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/what-is-there-more-real-for-instance-in-our-universe-than-a-man-s/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“Privately, she was proud of her Oscar for The Big House because she had conquered a variety of obstacles to create a realistic film…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cari-beauchamp/privately-she-was-proud-of-her-oscar-for-the-big-house-because-she/) [Cari Beauchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cari-beauchamp/) ## More by Steven Millhauser > [But what struck me was the book-madness of the place--books lay scattered across the unmade bed and the top of a battered-looking desk, books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/but-what-struck-me-was-the-book-madness-of-the-place-books-lay/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [I’m pleased by anything in myself that strikes me as not myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/i-m-pleased-by-anything-in-myself-that-strikes-me-as-not-myself/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [“For what is genius, I ask you, but the capacity to be obsessed? ...We have all been geniuses, you and I; but sooner or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/for-what-is-genius-i-ask-you-but-the-capacity-to-be-obsessed-we-have/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [“A story with a single ending seems to us a bare and diminished thing, like a tree with a single branch; and each ending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/a-story-with-a-single-ending-seems-to-us-a-bare-and-diminished-thing/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [His ambition was to insert his dreams into the world, and if they were the wrong dreams, then he would dream them in solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/his-ambition-was-to-insert-his-dreams-into-the-world-and-if-they-were/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [“... now and again we would happen to step out of the familiar universe into a sudden sharp shock of sweetly scented air, sudden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/now-and-again-we-would-happen-to-step-out-of-the-familiar-universe/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [“Martin thought of the iron El trestles winding and stretching across the city, of department store windows and hotel lobbies, of electric elevators and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/martin-thought-of-the-iron-el-trestles-winding-and-stretching-across/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [“Then solar systems, galaxies, supernovas, infinite space itself will become elements of a final masterwork--a never-ending festival, a celestial amusement park in which every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/then-solar-systems-galaxies-supernovas-infinite-space-itself-will/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [In the long dusks of summer we walked the suburban streets through scents of maple and cut grass, waiting for something to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/in-the-long-dusks-of-summer-we-walked-the-suburban-streets-through/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [“... it is the purpose of this history to trace not the mere outlines of a life but the inner plan, not the external…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/it-is-the-purpose-of-this-history-to-trace-not-the-mere-outlines-of-a/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [“Others saw in the trend still another instance of a disturbing tendency in the American suburb: the longing for withdrawal, for self-enclosure, for expensive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/others-saw-in-the-trend-still-another-instance-of-a-disturbing/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [Stories, like conjuring tricks, are invented because history is inadequate for our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/stories-like-conjuring-tricks-are-invented-because-history-is/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [“I thought of myself, in those days, as someone in disguise—beneath the obedient son, beneath the straight-A student, the agreeable well-brought-up boy with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/i-thought-of-myself-in-those-days-as-someone-in-disguise-beneath-the/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [We know nothing. Absolutely nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/we-know-nothing-absolutely-nothing/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) > [I saw that I was in danger of becoming ordinary, and I understood that from now on I would have to be vigilant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-millhauser/i-saw-that-i-was-in-danger-of-becoming-ordinary-and-i-understood-that/) [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) [Explore all 36 Steven Millhauser quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) ## More Accidental quotes > [The attempted assassinations against me were not accidental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhmad-kadyrov/the-attempted-assassinations-against-me-were-not-accidental/) [Akhmad Kadyrov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhmad-kadyrov/) > [“Accidental travel happens all the time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-w-cooper/accidental-travel-happens-all-the-time/) Loren W. Cooper > [Of your philosophy you makeno use If you give place to accidental evils.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/of-your-philosophy-you-makeno-use-if-you-give-place-to-accidental/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I'm kind of an accidental instrument, really, through which I hope that the judgment and the will of this nation can be expressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-mccarthy/i-m-kind-of-an-accidental-instrument-really-through-which-i-hope-that/) [Eugene McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-mccarthy/) > [Im an accidental entrepreneur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-massenet/im-an-accidental-entrepreneur/) [Natalie Massenet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-massenet/) > [Parties are organised happiness but happiness is accidental. You can't legislate for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-skinner/parties-are-organised-happiness-but-happiness-is-accidental-you-can-t/) [Dennis Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-skinner/) > [“That's how life is: it provides these accidental answers. Or it seems to. You have to judge by results.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-munson/that-s-how-life-is-it-provides-these-accidental-answers-or-it-seems/) Sam Munson > [My misdeeds are accidental happenings and merely the result of having been in the wrong bar or bed at the wrong time, say most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-bernard/my-misdeeds-are-accidental-happenings-and-merely-the-result-of-having/) [Jeffrey Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-bernard/) > [“You have a real gift for getting into trouble, don’t you? That was one thing I forgot when you left the pack.” “How is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/you-have-a-real-gift-for-getting-into-trouble-don-t-you-that-was-one/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [I never thought I'd be acting. It's very accidental for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reeve-carney/i-never-thought-i-d-be-acting-it-s-very-accidental-for-me/) [Reeve Carney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reeve-carney/) > [Directing is my first love; turning an actor was rather accidental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dileesh-pothan/directing-is-my-first-love-turning-an-actor-was-rather-accidental/) [Dileesh Pothan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dileesh-pothan/) > [“In my life's chain of events nothing was accidental. Everything happened according to an inner need.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-my-life-s-chain-of-events-nothing-was-accidental-everything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This accidental Meeting of possibilities Calls itself I.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/this-accidental-meeting-of-possibilities-calls-itself-i/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [All my books are accidental books - they come from reacting to things and thinking about things and engaging in a real way. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/all-my-books-are-accidental-books-they-come-from-reacting-to-things/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Any planning that I have in my career is totally accidental really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-bale/any-planning-that-i-have-in-my-career-is-totally-accidental-really/) [Christian Bale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-bale/) Browse all 101 Accidental quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He sank back into his black-and-white world, his immobile world of inanimate drawings that had been granted the secret of motion, his death-world with its hidden gift of life. But that life was a deeply ambiguous life, a conjurer's trick, a crafty illusion based on an accidental property of the retina, which retained an image for a fraction of a second after the image was no longer present. On this frail fact was erected the entire structure of the cinema, that colossal confidence game. The animated cartoon was a far more honest expression of the cinematic illusion than the so-called realistic film, because the cartoon reveled in its own illusory nature, exulted in the impossible--indeed it claimed the impossible as its own, exalted it as its own highest end, found in impossibility, in the negation of the actual, its profoundest reason for being. The animated cartoon was nothing but the poetry of the impossible--therein lay its exhilaration and its secret melancholy. For this willful violation of the actual, while it was an intoxicating release from the constriction of things, was at the same time nothing but a delusion, an attempt to outwit mortality. As such it was doomed to failure. 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