As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the conviction that our existence was worthless if we didn't make a turning point... of it, we were assigned to the humanities, to poetry, philosophy, painting--the nursery games of humankind, which had to be left behind when the age of science began. The humanities would be called upon to choose a wallpaper for the crypt, as the end drew near.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Darwin was, like Copernicus, a one-idea man. Each had his "nuclear inspiration" early in life, and spent the rest of his life work...ing it out--the ratio of inspiration to perspiration being heavily in favor of the second. Both lacked the many-sidedness, that universality of interest and amazing multitude of achievement in unrelated fields of research which characterised Kepler, Newton, Descartes, Franklin, Faraday, Maxwell, and hundreds of lesser but equally versatile geniuses. It is perhaps no coincidence that both Darwin and Copernicus, after the decisive turning point when their course was set, led a life of duty, devotion to task, rigorous self-discipline, and spiritual desiccation. It looks as if the artesian wells of their inspiration had been replaced by a mechanical water supply kept under pressure by sheer power of will.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Any campaign--like any good drama--will have its stylized performances. So too will it have one final dramatic element--a plot. Th...e classic unfolding story of any drama involves an introduction, rising action, turning point, falling action, and conclusion. A presidential campaign has all of these essentials--an introduction in the way of speculation about candidates "available" for party nominations; rising action in the form of early organizational efforts, qualifying for public funding, formal announcements, etc.; turning points in the multitude of caucuses and primaries leading to party conventions and nominations; falling action (spiced with unexpected events) in the general election campaign; and a conclusion on election day.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The realization that he is white in a black country, and respected for it, is the turning point in the expatriate's career. He can... either forget it, or capitalize on it. Most choose the latter.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
That night was the turning-point in the season. We had gone to bed in summer, and we awoke in autumn; for summer passes into autum...n in some imaginable point of time, like the turning of a leaf.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The nineteenth century is a turning point in history, simply on account of the work of two men, Darwin and Renan, the one the crit...ic of the Book of Nature, the other the critic of the books of God. Not to recognise this is to miss the meaning of one of the most important eras in the progress of the world.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
There is an enormous chasm between the relatively rich and powerful people who make decisions in government, business, and finance... and our poorer neighbors who must depend on these decisions to alleviate the problems caused by their lack of power and influence.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
[holds her by the hand, silent] O mother, mother! What have you done? Behold, the heavens do ope,... The gods look down, and this unnatural scene They laugh at. O my mother, mother! O! You have won a happy victory to Rome; But, for your son, believe it--O, believe it-- Most dangerously you have with him prevailed, If not most mortal to him.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »