Chariot Quotes

If you need a ceiling painted, a chariot race run, a city besieged, or the Red Sea parted, you think of me.

I awake with a not entirely sickened knowledge that I am merely young again and in a funny way at peace, an observer who is aware of time`s chariot, aware that some metamorphosis has occurred.

Legend has it that the original South Pointing Chariot was built in China three to four thousand years ago for the Yellow Emperor, Huang Di.

I think most artists find it difficult to part with their work but it`s the parting that keeps us alive and keeps us working. In the case of the chariot, although it`s been sold I actually still have it, just in another form.

As I was working I noticed that the way I designed the differential gearing actually created a spare drive that sat directly below the emperor`s feet, or where they would be if he were to sit in the chariot.

The rabbit is significant in that the handle on the original South Pointing Chariot was carved in the form of a rabbit. Because the handle extended out front it meant that wherever the rabbit went the chariot had to follow.

In practical terms the South Pointing Chariot was a simple direction finder. It could have been made to point in any direction - north, south, east or west.

Recreating the South Pointing Chariot is particularly challenging because none of the original technical drawings remain in existence.

I started by looking at what others had done before me. You see, over the years there have been attempts by many different people to reconstruct the chariot.

The chariot was purchased by a private collector who took it home to New York. I take pleasure in knowing that it was built to last for at least a thousand years.

But at my back I always hear, Time`s winged chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie, Deserts of vast eternity

Less than the dust beneath thy chariot wheel, / Less than the weed that grows beside thy door.