Notable quotes, excerpts, and profound lines.

[WT Sharpe]

.....But the actual result is that when two people are under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions, they are required to swear that they will remain in that exalted, abnormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part.
..........— George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish dramatist. Getting Married (written 1908, published by Brentano's, New York, 1920). Preface, page 25, under the heading: "For Better or Worse."

[TenaciousBadger]

George Carlin quotes:

The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.

“Meow” means “woof” in cat.

May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.

“No comment” is a comment.

Just when I discovered the meaning of life, they changed it.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by TenaciousBadger

George Carlin quotes:

Good one! It has a zen feel to it.

[Angst]

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

— Oscar Wilde

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Angst

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

— Oscar Wilde

Great one!

[Falcao]

I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.
-- Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Angst

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

— Oscar Wilde

Excellent!

[WT Sharpe]

.....What if someone gave a war & Nobody came?
..........— Allen Ginsberg (1926 – 1997), American poet and novelist. "Graffiti" (1972).

[WT Sharpe]

.....Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view) consists of its attitudes towards those who are at its mercy: animals.
..........— Milan Kundera (1929 - ), author, Naturalized French citizen of Czech origin. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984).

[BenG]

In our modern age, there are writers who have heaped scorn on the very idea of primacy of story. I’d rather warm my hands on a sunlit ice floe than try to coax fire from the books they carve from glaciers. Writers of the world, if you’ve got a story, I want to hear it. I promise it will follow me to my last breath. My soul will dance with pleasure, and it’ll change the quality of all my waking hours. You will hearten me and brace me up for the hard days as they enter my life on the prowl. I reach for a story to save my own life. Always. It clears the way for me and makes me resistant to all the false promises signified by the ring of power. In every great story, I encounter a head-on collision with self and imagination.
--Pat Conroy, My Reading Life

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

.....Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view) consists of its attitudes towards those who are at its mercy: animals.
..........— Milan Kundera (1929 - ), author, Naturalized French citizen of Czech origin. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984).

I should try reading that again. I did once ages ago and found it not to my taste.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by BenG

In our modern age, there are writers who have heaped scorn on the very idea of primacy of story. I’d rather warm my hands on a sunlit ice floe than try to coax fire from the books they carve from glaciers. Writers of the world, if you’ve got a story, I want to hear it. I promise it will follow me to my last breath. My soul will dance with pleasure, and it’ll change the quality of all my waking hours. You will hearten me and brace me up for the hard days as they enter my life on the prowl. I reach for a story to save my own life. Always. It clears the way for me and makes me resistant to all the false promises signified by the ring of power. In every great story, I encounter a head-on collision with self and imagination.
--Pat Conroy, My Reading Life

Ben, what did you think of that book? I was tempted to buy it when it came out but have not yet...

[BenG]

It's good. It's as much biography as a list of his favorite books. There's a chapter on his mother and GWTW, chapter about his high school English teacher, A tribute to Thomas Wolfe and James Dickey, the Old New York Bookshop in Atlanta, his first Writer's conference etc. All in all it's a very interesting read.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by BenG

It's good. It's as much biography as a list of his favorite books. There's a chapter on his mother and GWTW, chapter about his high school English teacher, A tribute to Thomas Wolfe and James Dickey, the Old New York Bookshop in Atlanta, his first Writer's conference etc. All in all it's a very interesting read.

Thank you!

[Carriebear]

My favorite quote ever is from "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin:

For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it must always be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness.