"An Irrevocable Diameter" (1959)
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I thought of praying for divine guidance in line with the great spiritual renaissance of our time. But I am all thumbs in that kind of deciduous conversation. I asked myself, did I, as God's creature under the stars, have the right to evade an event, a factual occurrence, to parry an experience or even a small peradventure.

— Grace Paley

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I thought of praying for divine guidance in line with the great spiritual renaissance of our time. But I am all thumbs in that kind of deciduous conversation. I asked myself, did I, as God's creature under the stars, have the right to evade an event, a factual occurrence, to parry an experience or even a small peradventure." in the context of ""An Irrevocable Diameter" (1959)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Grace Paley" (Quotes, The Little Disturbances of Man (1959): Short story collection) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Grace Paley

About Grace Paley

Grace Paley (December 11 1922 – August 22 2007) was a Jewish American short story writer, poet, teacher, and political activist. The 1994 edition of her Collected Stories was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.