Come quickly -- as soon as these blossoms open, they fall. This world exists as a sheen of dew on flowers.
~ Izumi Shikibu (Japan, b 974?), thanks to Maureen Flannery
Every true artist does feel, consciously or unconsciously, that [he] is touching transcendental truths; that [his] images are shadows of things seen through the veil. In other words, the natural mystic does know that there is something there; something behind the clouds or within the trees; but [he] believes that the pursuit of beauty is the way to find it...