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The Exotic
Poet William Wordsworth’s term for scenes from nature that people can relive in order to help them gain perspective and overcome problems that they face in their daily lives (and particularly issues like frustrations over social status that are specifically tied to life in cities).
Spots of Time Quotes in The Art of Travel
The The Art of Travel quotes below are all either spoken by Spots of Time or refer to Spots of Time. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5 Quotes
What though the radiance which was so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind.
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De Botton’s girlfriend and traveling partner M. recites these lines from Wordsworth’s “Intimations of Immortality” after they arrive in the Lake District to retrace the poet’s walks through the area. In the poem, Wordsworth laments the ephemerality of his childhood and the time he spent in nature when growing up. Though these experiences are “for ever taken from my sight,” he still manages to find “strength in what remains behind” by remembering old moments of serenity and continuing to appreciate nature. Although de Botton does not introduce Wordsworth’s concept of “spots of time” until later in this chapter, the poem Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in
Chapter 8 Quotes
A dominant impulse on encountering beauty is to wish to hold on to it, to possess it and give it weight in one’s life. There is an urge to say, “I was here, I saw this and it mattered to me.”
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De Botton suggests one important mechanism that translates the experience of observing beauty into the incorporation of that beauty into oneself, or what John Ruskin called the “transfer of goodness from without to within.” Clearly, this is an essential part of travel because it determines whether people can truly learn and benefit from the things they see abroad. And, throughout The Art of Travel, this metaphorical ingestion of beauty must be psychological: Wordsworth’s moments in nature are valuable because he preserves them as spots of time, encounters with the sublime help people overcome their troubles only if they can remember Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et.
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Spots of Time Term Timeline in The Art of Travel
The timeline below shows where the term Spots of Time appears in The Art of Travel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5: On the Country and the City
...people “both a contrast to and relief from present difficulties,” and he called these scenes spots of time . This explains Wordsworth’s “unusually specific” subtitles, which usually name a location and an exact...
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De Botton had a “ spot of time ” too, when he and M. ate chocolate bars near Ambleside and he noticed a...
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...M. stayed, Wordsworth saw daffodils “dancing in the breeze” and kept them alive as a spot of time , writing: “For oft when on my couch I lie / In vacant or in...
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