"We must be wary of ourselves when the worst that is in man becomes objectified in society, approved, acclaimed, and deified, when hatred becomes patriotism and murder a holy duty . . . ." Thomas Merton. [Note: I added the Oxford comma after acclaimed; I'm sure Merton and the editors simply overlooked its absence]
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute. - Rebecca West
“Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions, when it ceases to be dangerous you don't want it.” ― Anthony Burgess
If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it. - Frank Zappa
"I like the idea of democracy. You have to have someone everyone distrusts," said Brutha. "That way, everyone's happy." Terry Pratchett, Small Gods
There was a big, high wall there that tried to stop me A sign was painted said "Private Property" But on the backside, it didn't say nothing This land was made for you and me. - Woody Guthrie
"I went out to the woods today To hide away from you. From you a thousand miles away -- But you came, too." -- Jessie Rittenhouse
Pete Seeger used to sing it this way: "As I went walking, I saw a sign there, And one one side it said "No Trespassing" But the other side, it didn't say nothing That sign was made for you and me." That might have been a refinement made by Pete or Woody... it's hard to tell, since they were so close.
He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food cake. (Raymond Chandler, "Farewell, My Lovely")
True. Knowledge without imagination is sterile. Imagination without knowledge is meaningless. Einstein was a fascinating person, and a lot of stories are told about him. For instance: When the hydrogen bomb was being developed, Einstein was asked how World War III would be fought. Einstein replied that he had no idea what kind of weapons would be developed for the next war, but he could assure his questioner that the war after that would be fought with stones.
Homemade bread was something she’d read about in books, seen in old dramas, but she didn’t know anyone who actually baked bread. That was like gnawing your own furniture out of whole logs or something. Cory Doctorow, Unauthorized Bread.
Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing ~ Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I'm possible!" ~ Audrey Hepburn
Oscar Wilde is great. Almost everything he wrote or did is quotable. In the 19th century Oxford examinations, there was a compulsory divinity section, and candidates were required to translate aloud from the Greek version of the New Testament. Wilde, assigned a passage dealing with the Passion, began to translate fluently and accurately. The examiners, satisfied, told him he could stop. Ignoring them, he continued to translate. Eventually they succeeded in halting him. "Oh, do let me go on," Wilde said. "I want to see how it ends."
“To be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart.” ― Daniel Patrick Moynihan (following the assassination of John F. Kennedy)
Here's one from Brendan Behan (1923-64), the famous Irish playwright. He was once asked what he thought of drama critics. "Critics are like eunuchs in a harem," he replied. "They're there every night, they see it done every night, they see how it should be done every night, but they can't do it themselves."
I think it was Gore Vidal who said "A critic is a person who knows the route but cannot drive the car." To which an artist friend of mine added, "And sometimes they get paid more than the driver."
