Furies, and they find you, as if fear were a homing device, as if literature itself, on contemplating the abyss, were an invitation to jump into it, while Wagner whistles." - Meaning and context.">
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"Meeting at Winkel", The New York Times (6 September 1982)
“

Run from the Furies, and they find you, as if fear were a homing device, as if literature itself, on contemplating the abyss, were an invitation to jump into it, while Wagner whistles.

— John Leonard (critic)

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Run from the Furies, and they find you, as if fear were a homing device, as if literature itself, on contemplating the abyss, were an invitation to jump into it, while Wagner whistles." in the context of ""Meeting at Winkel", The New York Times (6 September 1982)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "John Leonard (critic)" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#John Leonard (critic)#contemplating#literature#invitation#whistles#furies#homing#device#itself#wagner#abyss#while
John Leonard (critic)

About John Leonard (critic)

John Leonard (February 25 1939 – November 5 2008) was an American literary, TV, film and cultural critic.