War and Peace

"What had to happen was bound to happen. Just as Napoleon thought that he started the war with Russia because he wanted a universal monarchy, but really started it because he could not help coming to Dresden, could not help being blinded by honours and accolades, could not help putting on Polish uniform and surrendering to the adventurous impulse of a June morning and setting out across the Neimen, so did Alexander think he was waging a desperate war in which he would never accept a truce, even if he retreated as far as the Volga, whereas in fact he was only doing so because he did not act otherwise."

This is a sentence from Part 7 of the first draft of War and Peace and I don't know whether it made it into the final "classical" version, because all I happen to have is the first draft, but I don't think it matters really. There we have it, Tolstoy.

gertrude stein's tender buttons (objects)

COLORED HATS.

Colored hats are necessary to show that curls are worn by an addition of blank spaces, this makes the difference between single lines and broad stomachs, the least thing is lightening, the least thing means a little flower and a big delay a big delay that makes more nurses than little women really little women. So clean is a light that nearly all of it shows pearls and little ways. A large hat is tall and me and all custard whole.

A FEATHER.

A feather is trimmed, it is trimmed by the light and the bug and the post, it is trimmed by little leaning and by all sorts of mounted reserves and loud volumes. It is surely cohesive.

-1914