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A seed crystal is a small particle used to induce crystallization in a liquid. It is a metaphor that the narrator borrows from Phaedrus’s background in biochemistry to express the insight-based processes that allowed Phaedrus’s thoughts to suddenly take shape.
Seed Crystal Quotes in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance quotes below all refer to the symbol of Seed Crystal. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 15 Quotes
Quality—you know what it is, yet you don’t know what it is. But that’s self-contradictory. But some things are better than others, that is, they have more quality. But when you try to say what the quality is, apart from the things that have it, it all goes poof! There’s nothing to talk about. But if you can’t say what Quality is, how do you know what it is, or how do you know that it even exists? If no one knows what it is, then for all practical purposes it doesn’t exist at all. But for all practical purposes it really does exist.
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Visiting the school where Phaedrus used to teach, the narrator recalls the question which acted as a "seed crystal" for his ideas and for his eventual mental breakdown. One question was a tiny catalyst that enabled him to produce an immense body of thought in a short period of time. The question was, "are you teaching Quality this year?" Phaedrus became obsessed with the question, at one point asking his students to write an essay describing what Quality is.Here, he gives the paradox that drove Phaedrus' breakdown and much of the book's central philosophy. We know what Quality is, but 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 cor
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Seed Crystal Symbol Timeline in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The timeline below shows where the symbol Seed Crystal appears in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 16
...on the system and grades normally again. In the narrator’s words, he awaited a “ seed crystal ” to solidify his thought.
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