# Quicksand

Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular material (such as sand or silt), clay, and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it creates a liquefied soil that loses strength and cannot support weight.

## Quotes

* The real question of government versus private enterprise is argued on too philosophical and abstract a basis. Theoretically, planning may be good. But nobody has ever figured out the cause of government stupidity—and until they do (and find the cure), all ideal plans will fall into quicksand.
** Richard Feynman, letter to his wife Gweneth, written while attending a gravity conference in Communist-era Warsaw in 1963, contained in "Letters, Photos, and Drawings," What Do You Care What Other People Think (pp. 90–91, 1988).
* Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.
** Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963).
* This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilising drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
** Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream (1963).
* Making the best of things is … a damn poor way of dealing with them.... My whole life has been a series of escapes from that quicksand.
** Rose Wilder Lane, letters to Guy Moyston, (25 August 1924 and 11 Jul 1925).
* With me, the present is forever, and forever is always shifting, flowing, melting. This second is life. And when it is gone it is dead. But you can't start over with each new second. You have to judge by what is dead. It's like quicksand…hopeless from the start.
** Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath (8 July 1950, published 2000).
* A quicksand of deceit.
** William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III (c. 1591), Act V, scene 4, line 26.

### From film

* Henry "Mutt" Williams-Jones III: What is it, quicksand? Marion Ravenwood: I'm calm. Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr.: No, it's a drysand pit. Marion: I'm sinking, but I'm calm. "Indiana": Quicksand is a mix of sand, mud and water and depending on the viscosity it's not as dangerous as people sometimes think. Marion: For Pete's sake, Jones, we're not in school! "Indiana": Don't worry. There's nothing to worry about unless there's a… [suddenly there is a void collapse] …a void collapse.
** Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).
* Sergeant Calhoun: What is this? [sees sign] Nesquik-sand!? Fix-It Felix, Jr: Quicksand? Oh, I'll hop out and grab you one of those vines. [tries unsuccessfully to hop] I can't hop. I'm hopless. This is hopeless! We're gonna drown here! Sergeant Calhoun: Stop thrashing. Stop—stop, you're making us sink faster. [Felix continues thrashing] Get ahold of yourself! [hits Felix]
** Wreck-It Ralph (2012).

### From music

* I have died a thousand days Just to feel this quicksand And every movement is embraced By this sweet frustration
** Audiovent, "Sweet Frustration," Dirty Sexy Knights in Paris (2002).
* Our mother's philosophy It feels like quicksand And if she sinks I'm going down with her
** Björk, "Quicksand," Vulnicura (2015).
* Should I kiss the viper's fang Or herald loud the death of Man I'm sinking in the quicksand of my thought And I ain't got the power anymore
** David Bowie, "Quicksand," Hunky Dory (1971).
* Your father's gone a-hunting In the quicksand and the clay And a woman cannot follow him Although she knows the way
** Leonard Cohen, "Hunter's Lullaby," Various Positions (1984).
* Slow, sinking feeling Kills the mood you're conveying And it pulls me far down below
* 'Cause the world waits around But I keep slipping and losing ground
* Stop you're talking down I lack the strength to sit or stand I lost my self confidence in the quicksand In the quicksand In the quicksand In the quicksand
** Finger Eleven, "Quicksand," Tip (1997).
* Our love is quicksand So easy to drown They steal the gravity, yeah From moving ground
** Hole, "Dying," Celebrity Skin (1998).
* As If I ever had a choice All in the hands of the energy Once again feel the quicksand swallow me Tonight, I won't struggle
** In Flames, "Touch Of Red," Soundtrack to Your Escape (2004).
* Some people fall in love and touch the sky Some people fall in love and find quicksand
** Incubus, "Quicksand," Light Grenades (2006).
* Nothing but a castle built on top of a swamp of quicksand
** Blyss (later known as Lifehouse), "Mudpie," Diff's Lucky Day (1999).
* I'm running in quicksand Something's haunting me The guilty past I've buried My mind won't let me sleep
** Megadeth, "Insomnia," Risk (1999).
* Figure eighting in quicksand
** R.E.M., "The Ascent of Man," Around the Sun (2004).
* That someone is you That someone is you That someone has pulled me up and out of cartoon quicksand Pulled me up and out of me
** R.E.M., "That Someone Is You," Collapse into Now (2011).
* Feet first into the quicksand Every day we are surrendering Never straying from the game plan I keep hoping you will take my hand and stand up
** Rise Against, "A Beautiful Indifference," The Black Market (2014).
* Quicksand's got no sense of humour I'm still laughing like hell
** Shinedown, "Sound of Madness," The Sound of Madness (2008).
* You're nothing but a history A second here and then you're gone Quicksand, quicksand all around Turn the corner just beyond
** Sonic Youth, "JC," Dirty (1992).
* Time's like quicksand Soon again, I'm standing naked in Wonderland
** The Cult, "Wonderland," Ceremony (1991).
* Deviate all by means in name 'Cause we all crawl in quicksand the same
** The Mars Volta, "Halo of Nembutals," Octahedron (2009).
* The quicksand of time You know it makes me want to cry
** The Moody Blues, "Isn't Life Strange," Seventh Sojourn (1972)
* These hands disappear as I wave farewell This gentle quicksand turns into hard times
** They Might Be Giants, "Hate The Villanelle"
* You're dancing in quicksand
** Tool, "Swamp Song", Undertow (1993).