Quote by: Tom Stoppard

Wheels have been set in motion, and they have their own pace, to which we are...condemned. Each move is dictated by the previous one - that is the meaning of order. If we start being arbitrary it'll just be a shambles: at least, let us hope so. Because if we happened, just happened to discover, or even suspect, that our spontaneity was part of their order, we'd know that we were lost. A Chinaman of the T'ang Dynasty - and, by which definition, a philosopher - dreamed he was a butterfly, and from that moment he was never quite sure that he was not a butterfly dreaming it was a Chinese philosopher. Envy him; his two-fold security.


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Author Bio


  • NameTom Stoppard
  • DescriptionBritish playwright
  • BornJuly 3, 1937
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionPlaywright; Screenwriter; Journalist; Writer
  • AwardsLaurence Olivier Award; Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire; PEN Pinter Prize; Laurel Award For Screenwriting Achievement; Academy Award For Best Writing (Original Screenplay); Writers Guild Of America Award; Praemium Imperiale