The world was in truth made of jackstraws. The world was very combustible, the human body was partible in ways heretofore unimagined. What held the civilized world together was the thinnest tissue of nothing but human will. Civilization was not in the natural order but was some wort of willed invention held taut like a fabric or a sail against the chaos of the winds. And why we had invented it, or how we knew to invent it, was beyond him. Newmann had seen some truth that was completely out of his power to put into words. But he had come away knowing that even though the world of civilization was made of straw and lantern slides, he must live in it as if it were solid. Even when the heat of the lantern itself burnt away the illusions and a black hole appeared in the middle of the slide. Paulette Jiles
About This Quote

"The world was in truth made of jackstraws" is a quote from Robert Heinlein's novel, "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls." Heinlein's characters are often intense, philosophically deep thinkers. Newmann, in this case, is a scientist, dealing with an extraordinary situation. He does not have the ability to explain the world in terms of cause and effect, but he has come to an understanding that human beings are facing tremendous challenges. Newmann realizes that the world is held together not by natural laws but by willed inventions - even though he does not have words for this understanding.

Source: Enemy Women

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