Why do our bodies wear out? Why can't we just go on and on and on, accumulating a potentially infinite number of Frequent Flyer mi...leage points? These are the kinds of questions that philosophers have been asking ever since they realized that being a philosopher did not involve any heavy lifting. And yet the answer is really very simple. Our bodies are mechanical devices, they break down. Some devices, such as battery-operated toys costing $39.95, break down almost instantly upon exposure to the Earth's atmosphere. Other devices, such as stereo systems owned by your next-door neighbor's 13-year-old son who likes to listen to bands with names like "Nerve Damage," at a volume capable of disintegrating limestone, will continue to function perfectly for many years, even if you hit them with an ax. But the fundamental law of physics is that sooner or later every mechanism ceases to function for one reason or another, and it is never covered under the warranty.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea,... The typist home at teatime, clears her breakfast, lights Her stove, and lays out food in tins.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
...I ... know the bitter fact that most lives are incredibly wasted, that opportunities for developing identity, for receiving ple...asure, for achieving a sense of self-worth are limited and, not only underdeveloped, but in most cases not developed at all--because no one thinks that a housewife, or a mother, or a typist has anything to develop.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
If the worker and his boss enjoy the same television program and visit the same resort places, if the typist is as attractively ma...de up as the daughter of her employer, if the Negro owns a Cadillac, if they all read the same newspaper, then this assimilation indicates not the disappearance of classes, but the extent to which the needs and satisfactions that serve the preservation of the Establishment are shared by the underlying population.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Father told me if I could get my fingers to ballet the typewriter keys... to Nureyev the steno pad everything would be perfect.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »