Sand

The crust of a tan man imbibed by the sand; soaking up the thirst of the land. ~ Ween

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.

Quotes

• And it stood still upon the sand of the sea. And I saw a wild beast ascending out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, and upon its horns ten diadems, but upon its heads blasphemous names. Now the wild beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were as those of a bear, and its mouth was as a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave to [the beast] its power and its throne and great authority.
  • Revelation 13:1,2

• A single grain of sand can have an influence far out of proportion to its size, but when it gathers together with vast numbers of its colleagues, very strange things can indeed happen.
  • Eddy Arnold, "One Grain of Sand", as quoted in Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), by Michael Welland, California: University of California Press, p. 30

• ...the noise made by a single grain of sand moving with the waves is one of a series of tiny perceptions that we accumulate to hear the roar of the ocean.
  • Samuel Beckett, as quoted in Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), by Michael Welland, California: University of California Press, p. 29

• To see a world in a grain of sand/And a heaven in a wild flower.
  • William Blake, as quoted in Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), by Michael Welland, California: University of California Press, p. 2

• The mine which Time has slowly dug beneath familiar objects is sprung in an instant; and what was rock before, becomes but sand and dust.
  • Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewitt (1844), as quoted in Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), by Michael Welland, California: University of California Press, p. 5

• For nature is the noblest engineer, yet uses a
  grinding economy working up all that is wasted
  to-day in to to-marrows creation;not a superfluous
  grain of sand for all ostentation she
  makes of expense and public works.
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson, as quoted in Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), by Michael Welland, California: University of California Press, p. 1

• There are as many stars in the universe as all the grains of sand in the beaches of the world.
  • Gary Greenberg, A Grain of Sand: Nature's Secret Wonder (2008), Voyageur Press, p. 19

• The huge variety of sand grains is astounding, and each one has a story to tell.
  • Gary Greenberg, A Grain of Sand: Nature's Secret Wonder (2008), Voyageur Press, p. 23

• Examining sand grains through the microscope is a wonderful way to find out about the biology, and ecology of the local environment.
  • Gary Greenberg, A Grain of Sand: Nature's Secret Wonder (2008), Voyageur Press, p. 24

• Every grain of sand is a jewel waiting to be discovered. ... When we walk along a beach, we tread upon millions of years of biological and geological history.
  • Gary Greenberg, A Grain of Sand: Nature's Secret Wonder (2008), Voyageur Press, back page

• A wise man can pick up a grain of sand and envision a whole universe.
  • Jack Handey, as quoted in "Quotes about Wisdom", Quotations Book, p. 15

• Unhappy they who raise their hopes upon the shifting sand.
  • Mansa to Kwamankra, in Ethiopia Unbound: Studies in Race Emancipation by J. E. Casely Hayford. C.M. Phillips. 1911. p. 60.

• History is a child building a sand castle by the sea and that child is the whole majesty of man’s power in the world.
  • Heraclitus, as quoted in Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), by Michael Welland, California: University of California Press, p. 31

• And so castle made of sand fall into the sea, eventually.
  • Jimi Hendrix, as quoted in Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), by Michael Welland, California: University of California Press, p. 31

• If you speak ill of another do not speak it...write it in the sand near the water’s edge.
  • Napolean Hill, as quoted in 1,600 Quotes & Pieces of Wisdom That Just Might Help You Out When You're Stuck in a Moment (and Can't Get Out of It!) (2003), by Gary Guthrie, p. 54

• Who could ever calculate the path of a molecule?
  How do we know the creations of worlds are not
  determined by falling grains of sand?
  • Victor Hugo, Les Miserable, as quoted in Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), by Michael Welland, California: University of California Press, p. 1

• I wrote my name upon the sand;
  I thought I wrote it on thine heart.
  I had no touch of fear, that words,
  Such words, so graven, could depart.
  • Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Friendship's Offering, 1827, Song - I wrote my name upon the sand.

• You may smile at the fanciful structures I rear,
  And say, that my castles are built but on sand ;
  Like bubbles, that on the blue waters appear,
  That sparkle, invite, and then sink from the hand.
  • Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Fate of Adelaide (1821), 'Castle Building'

• ...the entire universe was there within a grain for our understanding.
  • Gottfried Leibniz, as quoted in Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), by Michael Welland, California: University of California Press, p. 29

• The sand (Hindi: mitti) in the arena is especially holy to them. In Benares it [sand] comes from the Ganges and is mixed with Ganges water, mustard oil, and turmeric in order to keep it soft and supple. On special occasions, milk and clarified butter (ghi) are also added. The ground must be turned, loosened, and renewed periodically. Only the master (Hindi:ustad) is allowed to enter the new sand after he has honoured it with flowers and incense. The young men not only rub themselves with sand, they also wallow in it. Sand is the balm for their heroism.
  • Axel Michaels, Hinduism: Past and Present (January 2004), Princeton University Press, p. 276
  • “Arena“ is the area where wrestling is held in p. 1

• The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
  • Jean-Paul Sartre, as quoted in The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Inspirational Quotes (1 January 2005), by Wendy Toliver, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 18

• It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out – it is the grain of sand in your shoe.
  • Robert Service, as quoted in Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), by Michael Welland, California: University of California Press, p. 30

• Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out – it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.
  • Robert Sinclair, as quoted in 1,600 Quotes & Pieces of Wisdom That Just Might Help You Out When You're Stuck in a Moment (and Can't Get Out of It!) (2003), by Gary Guthrie, p. 115

• The crust of a tan man imbibed by the sand; soaking up the thirst of the land.
  • Ween, "Ocean Man", The Mollusk (1997), New York: Elektra Entertainment Group

• I don't like sand. It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere.
  • Anakin Skywalker, in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)

• For Look! Within my hallow hand,
  While round the earth careens,
  I hold a single grain of sand
  And wonder what it means.
  Ah! If I had the eyes to see,
  And brain to understand,
  I think the Life’s mystery might be
  Solved in the grain of sand.
  • Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), California: University of California Press, p. 3

• The birth of a sand grain is a microscopic event, a flap of butterfly’s wings heralding greater change and a larger creation. Each grain carries the equivalent of the DNA of its parents and develops a character through its life and is moulded partly by its environment. Compared to the scale of a human life, however, the sand grains’ story is never ending, and rebirth is a regular event.
  • Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), California: University of California Press, p. 3

• Close to 70 percent of all sand grains on the earth are made of quartz.
  • Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), California: University of California Press, p. 4

• The sand grain has become a symbol of permanence and fragility of our – and - nature’s works.
  • Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), California: University of California Press, p. 5

• It has been estimated that on the order of a billion sand grains are born around the world every second.
  • Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), California: University of California Press, p. 5

• The sand grain is anonymous, waiting for rain and wind to sweep it away on an endless journey, to demonstrate its durability while its weaker companions fall by the way side. But it is called sand not because of what it is made of or its origins, bit because of how big it is.
  • Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), California: University of California Press, p. 6

• Sand is somewhat like beauty – we know it when we see it, or touch it, but it seems difficult to describe.
  • Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), California: University of California Press, p. 6

• Sand grains comes in variety of shapes, which can make measuring its size quite tricky.
  • Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), California: University of California Press, p. 14

• There are countless sand collectors around the world, and there have been for a long time. …Sand collectors call themselves as arenophiles or “sand lovers”- a mixture of Latin and Greek. The word arena derives from the ancient Roman habit of covering the ground in amphitheaters with sand (harena or arena in Latin) – to soak up blood. The pure Greek would be psammophile, and some sand collectors use this but it is commonly used also to describe plants and creatures that are sand-loving, forging a livelihood among the grains.
  • Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), California: University of California Press, p. 14

• Reflecting its potential fluidity and fickleness, sand, as the quintessential granular material, has become a symbol of instability and impermanence. The biblical admonition against building a house on sand may be exaggerated.
  • Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-ending Story (January 2009), California: University of California Press, p. 33

See also

• Sands of time (idiom)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Sand on Wikipedia
• The dictionary definition of sand on Wiktionary