Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos

This tattoo belongs to Donna:

The tattoo is written in Sindarin using Tengwar (Tengwar Parmaite font) and reads:
Eru cân vanadh nîn
‘God commands my destiny’

- From The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

(source)

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am.”

- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

“Consummatum est: this bill is ended,
And Faustus hath bequeathed his soul to Lucifer.
But what is this inscription on mine arm?
Homo fuge! Whither should I fly?
If unto God, he’ll throw me down to hell.
My senses are deceived; here’s nothing writ:
I see it plain, here in this place is writ,
Homo fuge! Yet shall not Faustus fly.”

- Faustus in The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

(source)

From The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

(source)

all theories
like clichés
shot to hell,
all these small faces
looking up
beautiful and believing;
I wish to weep
but sorrow is
stupid.
I wish to believe
but belief is a
graveyard.
we have narrowed it down to
the butcherknife and the
mockingbird.
wish us
luck.

- No Title by Charles Bukowski

(source)

From The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.

(unknown source - email me)

Poetry.

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“Get your god in my way, and I will bring you the rapture.”

- Henry Rollins

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“And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.”

- Isaiah 22:13

From the LA Times:

The military is trying to discourage its troops from getting showy tattoos.

But who could object to a quote from the Bible, right?

heart (härt) n.
The vital center and source of one’s being, emotions, and sensibilities

(source)

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix…”

- Allen Ginsberg, Howl

(submitted by bophie)

I don’t feel the suns comin’ out today
It’s staying in, it’s gonna find another way.
As I sit here in this misery,
I don’t think I’ll ever (no Lord) see the sun from here.
And oh as I fade away,
They’ll all look at me and say, and they’ll say,
“Hey look at him! I’ll never live that way.”
But that’s okay, they’re just afraid to change.
And when you feel life ain’t worth living
You’ve got to stand up and
Take a look around you look up way to the sky.
And when your deepest thoughts are broken,
Keep on dreaming boy, cause when you stop dreamin’ it’s time to die.
And as we all play parts of tomorrow,
some ways we’ll work and other ways we’ll play.
But I know we can’t all stay here forever,
So I want to write my words on the face of today.
And then they’ll paint it
And oh as I fade away,
They’ll all look at me and say, they’ll say,
“Hey look at him and where he is these days.”
When life is hard, you have to change.

- Blind Melon, Change

(source)

“Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”

– From Macbeth (V, v, 19)

(See another picture here.)

(source)

“The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”

- Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance

(source)

“Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.”

- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

(source)

Thought I ran into you down on the street
Then it turned out to only be a dream
I made a point to burn all of the photographs
She went away and then I took a different path
I remember the face
But I cant recall the name
Now I wonder how whatsername has been

Seems that she disappeared with out a trace
Did she ever marry old what’s his face?
I made a point to burn all of the photographs
She went away and then I took a different path
I remember the face
But I cant recall the name
Now I wonder how whatsername has been

Remember, whatever
It seems like forever ago
Remember, whatever
It seems like forever ago
The regrets are useless
In my mind
She’s in my head
I must confess
The regrets are useless
In my mind
She’s in my head
From so long ago

(Go, Go, Go, Go..)

And in the darkest night
If my memory serves me right
I’ll never turn back time

Forgetting you, but not the time

- Whatsername by Green Day (from American Idiot)

(source)

This shit right here is 4 U
All your faces I can see
You all think it’s up, not me
I’m about to break, this is my fate
Am I still damned to a life,
of misery and hate?
You will never know
What it did 4 U
What you are
Got me through
I’ve done 4 U
I could have, never lived
If it wasn’t, 4 U

- Korn, 4 U

(source)

Tattoo of a book.

The tattoo’s owner says:

i wanted the book because i really like to read, and i think there is such power in written word. its really one of the few ways that peoples ideas live on past their mortal bodies, and words give so much to people… knowledge, entertainment, instruction, comfort. i just think its powerful, i guess.

(source)

“Resistance is the secret of joy.”

- Alice Walker, Possessing the Secret of Joy

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Submitted by Janet:

Since I dislike the text the tattoo artist used (looks like a USDA stamp to me), the tat is going to be edited. A circle of blue fire will cover the original text and the words, “Mischief Managed” will be appear at the top of the tat.

“Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder’s Map.”
“I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”
George: Oh, and Harry, don’t forget. When you’re done, just give it a tap and say…
George & Fred: “Mischief Managed.” Otherwise anyone can read it.

From Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling.

When you base
Your whole identity
On reaction against somebody
It’s the same as being in

I tend to forget when I drink.
I’m doing it again I think
A hand to hold, an ego to flatter,
‘Cause you were the wineskin, I was the bladder.

Time passes, events fall away
(I don’t think they’ll hurry).
Hurry up, I’m blacking out,
High on the vapor
‘Cause I was the typo,
You were the liquid paper.

Talk it over, talk it, overtalk it.
The answer’s still the same:

It’s discontent, humiliation
‘Cause you were the theme and I was the variation.
Try to take a less dramatic course of action;

This attraction, introspection-diction predilection is breaking my heart again,
breaking my heart again.

- The Same As Being In Love by Harvey Danger (from the album King James Version)

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