As I sit looking out of a window of the building
I wish I did not have to write the instruction manual on the uses of a new metal.
I look down into the street and see people, each walking with an inner peace,
And envy them-they are so far away from me!
Not one of them has to worry about getting out this manual on schedule.

John Ashbery

The Instruction Manual

More information about this quote

Topic

Observing others Work

Author

John Ashbery

Source

The Instruction Manual

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Occupation

Poet

From

United States

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ashbery, John. "The Instruction Manual." Some Trees: Yale Series Of Younger Poets. Yale University Press, 1956, I. 1.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by John Ashbery about observing others: “As I sit looking out of a window of the building I wish I did…”
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A quote by John Ashbery about observing others: “As I sit looking out of a window of the building I wish I did…”
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A quote by John Ashbery about observing others: “As I sit looking out of a window of the building I wish I did…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1950s

The history of evolution is that life escapes all barriers. Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way.

Michael Crichton

Jurassic Park

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More information about this quote
Topic
Evolution Nature of life Life
Speaker
Ian Malcolm

Author

Michael Crichton
Source
Jurassic Park
Medium
Novel
Language
English
Time
1953 1950s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Crichton, Michael. Jurassic Park. Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.

Another quote about Work

I don't like work—no man does—but I like what is in the work—the chance to find yourself. Your own reality—for yourself, not for others—what no other man can ever know.

Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness

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More information about this quote
Topic
Value of work Work

Author

Joseph Conrad
Source
Heart of Darkness
Language
English
Time
1899 1890s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Conrad, Joseph. "Heart of Darkness." Blackwood's Magazine. London and Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, Feb. 1899 - Apr. 1899.

Current Citation

Conrad, Joseph. "Heart of Darkness." Heart of Darkness and Other Tales, edited by Cedric Watts. Oxford University Press, 2008, ch. 1.