One year, I'd completely lost my bearings trying to follow potty training instruction from a psychiatric expert. I was stuck on st...ep on, which stated without an atom of irony: "Before you begin, remove all stubbornness from the child." . . . I knew it only could have been written by someone whose suit coat was still spotless at the end of the day, not someone who had any hands-on experience with an actual two-year-old.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The Greeks have given to the world the science of history; the Israelites gave to the world historical religion. In contrast to al...l their neighbors, both peoples knew what history is; this is no consequence of their mental giftedness, however, for there is another reason. Through mighty events both peoples experienced what history is, and by the investment of their lives they made history. The peculiar mental capacity of each of the two peoples comes to the fore in the way in which they experience history and express it. For both peoples history was a source of present and future knowledge. Thucydides wrote his history because what happened would, according to human ways, surely happen again in the future in the same or a similar way. This was conceived in a genuinely Greek way, for history is an eternal repetition; nothing new happens under the sun. Even in the stream of eternally changing events the Greeks sought the unalterable, the regular occurrence. Thus they employed the same method with regard to history as with regard to nature because history was a piece of nature. For this reason their mental life can justifiably be called non-historical. If God is to be found, he must be sought in the unalterable, in mental being, in the Ideas. God revealed himself to the Israelites in history and not in Ideas; he revealed himself when he acted and created. His being was not learned through propositions but known in actions.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
In the game of "Whist for two," usually called "Correspondence," the lady plays what card she likes: the gentleman simply follows ...suit. If she leads with "Queen of Diamonds," however, he may, if he likes, offer the "Ace of Hearts": and, if she plays "Queen of Hearts," and he happens to have no Heart left, he usually plays "Knave of Clubs."LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
There were two unpleasant surprises [about Washington]. One was the inertia of Congress, the length of time it takes to get a comp...licated piece of legislation through ... and the other was the irresponsibility of the press.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The motion picture is like a picture of a lady in a half- piece bathing suit. If she wore a few more clothes, you might be intrigu...ed. If she wore no clothes at all, you might be shocked. But the way it is, you are occupied with noticing that her knees are too bony and that her toenails are too large. The modern film tries too hard to be real. Its techniques of illusion are so perfect that it requires no contribution from the audience but a mouthful of popcorn.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on. This scarecrow of a suit, has, in course of time, become so complicated that no man alive knows w...hat it means. The parties to it understand it least; but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about it for five minutes, without coming to total disagreement as to all the premises.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The radio ... goes on early in the morning and is listened to at all hours of the day, until nine, ten and often eleven o'clock in... the evening. This is certainly a sign that the grown-ups have infinite patience, but it also means that the power of absorption of their brains is pretty limited, with exceptions, of course--I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. One or two news bulletins would be ample per day! But the old geese, well--I've said my piece!LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I've been aboard this destroyer for two weeks now, and we've already been through four air attacks. I'm in the war at last, Doc. I... caught up with that task force that passed me by. I'm glad to be here. I had to be here, I guess. But I'm thinking now of you, Doc, and you, Frank, and Dolan, and Dawdy, and Insignia, and everyone else on that bucket. All the guys everywhere who sailed from tedium to apathy and back again with an occasional sidetrip to monotony. This is a tough crew on here and they have a wonderful battle record. But I've discovered, Doc, that the unseen enemy of this war is the boredom that eventually becomes a faith and, therefore, a terrible sort of suicide. And I know now that the ones who refuse to surrender to it are the strongest of all. Right now, I'm looking at something that's hanging over my desk, a preposterous hunk of brass attached to the most bilious piece of ribbon I've ever seen. I'd rather have it than the Congressional Medal of Honor. It tells me what I'll always be proudest of, that at a time in the world when courage counted most, I lived among sixty-two brave men. So Doc, and especially you, Frank, don't let those guys down.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
He had put, within his reach, A box of counters and a red-veined stone,... A piece of glass abraded by the beach, And six or seven shells, A bottle with bluebells, And two French copper coins, ranged there with careful art,LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
But my mother was in love and she had known about life for a long time, with her two bastard girls like two earrings; and she knew... that most often one must pull out one's entrails and fill one's stomach with straw if one wants to have a little piece of the sun.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »