Know Celia, since thou art so proud,
‘Twas I that gave thee thy renown;
Thou hadst, in the forgotten crowd
Of common beauties, liv’d unknown,
Had not my verse exhal’d thy name,
And with it imp’d the wings of fame.

That killing power is none of thine,
I gave it to thy voice, and eyes;
Thy sweets, thy graces, all are mine;
Thou art my star, shin’st in my skies;
Then dart not from thy borrow’d sphere
Lightning on him that fix’d thee there.

Tempt me with such affrights no more,
Lest what I made, I uncreate;
Let fools thy mystic forms adore,
I’ll know thee in thy mortal state;
Wise poets that wrapp’d Truth in tales,
Knew her themselves, through all her veils.

- “Ingrateful Beauty Threatened” by Thomas Carew

(submitted by Lisa)

(23 votes, average: 3.74 out of 5)

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“Ipsa scientia potestas est.” (“Knowledge itself is power.”)

- Sir Francis Bacon

Submitted by alexxxmc.

(53 votes, average: 4.51 out of 5)

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This tattoo of DEATH (and DEATH OF RATS) from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series was submitted by Lisa:

I was introduced to Terry Pratchett’s work via a number of friends a few years ago and became totally enraptured with his work. While not typically a huge fan of sci-fi, Pratchett’s humour, satire and quirky way of explaining how the world works appealed to me muchly. It wasn’t until I found a pencil print of DEATH by the Pratchett approved artist, Paul Kidby, that I knew I had to get this done as a tattoo. Out of my twelve tattoos, it is my most favorite and it is also the one I get asked about the most.

(29 votes, average: 4.14 out of 5)

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“So it goes.”

- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

This tattoo was submitted by Rheanna:

i’ve always been one to worry about stupid, pathetic things. reading slaughterhouse five helped me to realize that no matter what i do, no matter what stupid mistakes i make, no matter who dies, no matter what celebrity gets breast implants, NO MATTER WHAT – life goes on. so it goes.

I think I now have the definitive Internet collection of “so it goes” tattoos.

(43 votes, average: 3.81 out of 5)

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This tattoo was submited by Sara:

`Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English); `now I’m opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!’ (for when she looked down at her feet, they seemed to be almost out of sight, they were getting so far off). `Oh, my poor little feet, I wonder who will put on your shoes and stockings for you now, dears? I’m sure I shan’t be able! I shall be a great deal too far off to trouble myself about you: you must manage the best way you can; –but I must be kind to them,’ thought Alice, `or perhaps they won’t walk the way I want to go! Let me see: I’ll give them a new pair of boots every Christmas.’

And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it. `They must go by the carrier,’ she thought; `and how funny it’ll seem, sending presents to one’s own feet! And how odd the directions will look!

Alice’s Right Foot, Esq.
Heartrug,
Near the Fender,
(with Alice’s Love).

Oh dear, what nonsense I’m talking!’

- Excerpt from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

(35 votes, average: 3.69 out of 5)

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This tattoo was submitted by Amy:

My tattoo is from Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, and it says “everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.”  My friend, whom I’ve known for 22 of my 25 years, wrote this in her own handwriting for me.

I chose Kurt Vonnegut because he is the most inspirational writer I’ve ever read, and I made it a mission to read everything he’s ever written. He is so prolific I think I’ll always be finding more and more tidbits of his to read, but after I read all of his novels in chronological order, and then all  of his collections of short stories and essays in chronological order (a total of more than 20 books) I decided to celebrate and commemorate my accomplishment with a tattoo.

I chose this quote for two reasons: Because it’s so iconically Kurt Vonnegut, and because the duality of it is so simple but so meaningful — it’s ironic and pessimistic, or it’s straightforward and optimistic, depending on how you read it, or on how you want to read it. It’s a stunning example of the whole of Kurt Vonnegut’s work.

(57 votes, average: 4.51 out of 5)

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This tattoo was submitted by Danielle with a sad story:

Just over a year ago my fiance Noel took his own life. I had been in the process of making him a scrapbook to give to him at our rehearsal dinner. One of the pages included e.e. cummings’  poem “i carry your heart with me.”

A month after his death I had this tattoo done on the inside of my left wrist. It has the first line of the cummings’ poem around a winged heart. The tattoo was done by Alex at Fat Ram Pumpkin Tattoo in JP, Mass. The picture doesn’t do well showing the coloring, but Alex did a beautiful job.

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

- e. e. cummings, i carry your heart with me

(58 votes, average: 4.48 out of 5)

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You’ll have to click on this one to view the full size.

This tattoo was submitted by w m r and reads “quis custodiet ipsos custodes”. From Wikipedia:

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a Latin phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal, which literally translates to “Who will guard the guards themselves,” and is variously translated in colloquial English as “Who watches the watchmen?”

The Watchmen movie is coming out tomorrow; have you read the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons yet?

(22 votes, average: 3.91 out of 5)

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