To be naked is to be deprived of our clothes, and the word implies some of the embarrassment most of us feel in that condition. Th...e word "nude," on the other hand, carries, in educated usage, no uncomfortable overtone. The vague image it projects into the mind is not of a huddled and defenseless body, but of a balanced, prosperous, and confident body: the body re-formed. In fact, the word was forced into our vocabulary by critics of the early eighteenth century to persuade artless islanders that, in countries where painting and sculpture were practiced and valued as they should be, the naked human body was the central subject of art.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
In the land of turkeys in turkey weather At the base of the statue, we go round and round.... What a beautiful history, beautiful surprise! Monsieur is on horseback. The horse is covered with mice.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
A bather whose clothing was strewed By winds that left her quite nude... Saw a man come along And, unless I am wrong, You expected this line to be rude.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Said the Duchess of Alba to Ga, "Paint a picture to hang in my foyer!"... So he painted her twice: In the nude, to look nice, And then in her clothes, to annoy her.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Because humans are not alone in exhibiting such behavior--bees stockpile royal jelly, birds feather their nests, mice shred paper-...-it's possible that a pregnant woman who scrubs her house from floor to ceiling [just before her baby is born] is responding to a biological imperative . . . . Of course there are those who believe that . . . the burst of energy that propels a pregnant woman to clean her house is a perfectly natural response to their mother's impending visit.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Nakedness reveals itself. Nudity is placed on display.... The nude is condemned to never being naked. Nudity is a form of dress.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »