"Some philosophers claim that we know nothing of the external world outside our minds--nothing compared to what sways in our minds, in the long, twisting corridors of memory, the vast mental rooms with half-open doors, the ghosts chattering beneath the chandeliers of imagination."
— Lightman, Alan (b. 1948)
Author
Date
August, 22, 2015
Metaphor
"Some philosophers claim that we know nothing of the external world outside our minds--nothing compared to what sways in our minds, in the long, twisting corridors of memory, the vast mental rooms with half-open doors, the ghosts chattering beneath the chandeliers of imagination."
Metaphor in Context
I am remembering wrong. I wish that my brothers were here. I want to see the people who lived in my past, the piece of the ribbon that has slipped away. We could compare testimonies. They lived in this house. But their heads are not mine. They have their own billions of neurons with shifting connections. Some philosophers claim that we know nothing of the external world outside our minds--nothing compared to what sways in our minds, in the long, twisting corridors of memory, the vast mental rooms with half-open doors, the ghosts chattering beneath the chandeliers of imagination.
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Alan Lightman, "The Ghost House of My Childhood," The New York Times (August, 22, 2015). <Link to NYTimes.com>
Date of Entry
08/23/2015
