A tree becomes a nest the moment a great dreamer hides in it.

Chapter 4.IV:  nests
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard, transl. Maria Jolas

*******************************************************************************************************************************

And yet it is living nests that could introduce a phenomenology of the actual nest, of the nest found in natural surroundings, and which becomes for a moment the center – the term is no exaggeration – of an entire universe, the evidence of a cosmic situation.

Chapter 4.III:  nests
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard, transl. Maria Jolas

*******************************************************************************************************************************

Already, in the world of inanimate objects, extraordinary significance is attached to nests. We want them to be perfect, to bear the mark of a very sure instinct. We ourselves marvel at this instinct, and a nest is generally considered to be one of the marvels of animal life.

Chapter 4.II:  nests
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard, transl. Maria Jolas

Photo taken in Amherst, MA, of Amherst Typewriters & Computers

*******************************************************************************************************************************

It is striking that even in our homes, where there is light, our consciousness of well-being should call for comparison with animals in their shelters.

Chapter 4.I:  nests
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard, transl. Maria Jolas

*******************************************************************************************************************************

The action of the secret passes continually from the hider of things to the hider of self.

Chapter 3.VII:  drawers, chests and wardrobes
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard, transl. Maria Jolas

*******************************************************************************************************************************

Gentle closing calls for gentle opening, and we should want life always to be well oiled.

Chapter 3.VI:  drawers, chests and wardrobes
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard, transl. Maria Jolas

It is not merely a matter of keeping a possession well guarded. The lock doesn't exist that could resist absolute violence, and all locks are an invitation to thieves. A lock is a psychological threshold.

Chapter 3.V:  drawers, chests and wardrobes
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard, transl. Maria Jolas

In the wardrobe there exists a center of order that protects the entire house against uncurbed disorder. Here order reigns, or rather, this is the reign of order.

Chapter 3.IV:  drawers, chests and wardrobes
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard, transl. Maria Jolas

These rapid remarks are intended to show that a metaphor should be no more than an accident of expression, and that it is dangerous to make a thought of it. A metaphor is a false image, since it does not possess the direct virtue of an image formed in spoken revery.

Chapter 3.III:  drawers, chests and wardrobes
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard, transl. Maria Jolas