The Cathedral of Mist Quotes

“I believe style is a kind of meta-language whose secrets must be learned, which is made up not only of whatever text we are reading, but of the books we have been reading for years, whose outlines lie like watermarks beneath the lines of every new work we encounter.”
― Paul Willems, The Cathedral of Mist

“The architect renounced the use of stone. After years of meditation, he built a cathedral of mist.”
― Paul Willems, The Cathedral of Mist

“The cathedral sparkled in the sunlight; every last detail of its architecture could be distinguished. I felt like we were seeing it reflected in one of those great mythical mirrors where winter has forever frozen its most beautiful memories.”
― Paul Willems, The Cathedral of Mist

“D'ailleurs le givre et les traces de pas dans la neige appartiennent à l'Éphémère. Et on ne saurait jamais effacer assez vite les indices matériels d'un miracle qui n'appartient qu'à l'instant et dont la durée ne peut se prolonger que dans la mémoire. Toute ma vie, disait mon père avec émotion, j'ai porté l'église de givre en moi et j'essaye de t'en transmettre l'image.”
― Paul Willems, The Cathedral of Mist

“Miracles belong only to the moment, and live on only in memory.”
― Paul Willems, The Cathedral of Mist

“For the palace was but emptiness, a hole in a labyrinth of lines, a skyward precipice.”
― Paul Willems, The Cathedral of Mist