"A corpse is meat gone bad. Well and what's cheese? Corpse of milk"
- James Joyce
About this Quote
This quote from James Joyce playfully juxtaposes the concepts of decay and change in the context of food and life. The metaphor he uses recommends a philosophical expedition of decay, creation, and the natural processes that guide both.
At first glance, Joyce provocatively corresponds a corpse with spoiled meat, a metaphor that attends to the inescapable decrease and decay fundamental in life. Death, in this framework, becomes a natural procedure where the organism's previous form breaks down into its base elements, comparable to meat that has actually spoiled. This representation underscores the cycle of life and death, where decay ends up being as essential to life's continuity as birth and development.
The 2nd part of the quote makes an unexpected leap by comparing cheese to the 'corpse of milk'. Here, Joyce discreetly injects humor while also highlighting transformation. Cheese is created through a regulated bacterial process where milk is broken down and reconstituted into something new and valued. Unlike the uncontrolled wasting of meat, the change of milk into cheese is purposeful and celebrated, indicating that decomposition can result in brand-new types of life or sustenance under the best conditions.
Through this contrast, Joyce may be recommending that death and decay are not merely terminals of life however are integral to the ongoing procedures of creation and change. Just as cheese represents a refined product of milk's natural 'decay', human experience and cultural development could be deemed changes originated from previous 'selves'-- whether private, intellectual, or societal.
Additionally, Joyce's language seems to highlight humankind's tendency to classify and evaluate natural procedures based on context and energy. While one type of decay (spoiled meat) is driving away, another (cheese production) is valued, showing subjective interpretations of what is considered favorable or advantageous.
Ultimately, Joyce's metaphor elicits a reflection on how life's processes-- decay and transformation alike-- are interwoven, culturally built, and constantly shifting in significance and value.
This quote is written / told by James Joyce between February 2, 1882 and January 13, 1941. He was a famous Novelist from Ireland.
The author also have 32 other quotes.
"One has children in the expectation of dying before them. In fact, you want to make damn sure you die before them, just as you plant a tree or build a house knowing, hoping that it will outlive you. That's how the human species has done as well as it has"
