To be a critical reader means for me: (1) to affirm the enduring power of the Bible in my culture and in my own life and yet (2) to remain open enough to dare to ask any question and to risk any critical judgement. Nothing less than both of these poi...
[W]hat people truly desire is access to the knowledge and information that ultimately lead to a better life--the collected wisdom of the ages found only in one place: a well-stocked library. To the teachers and librarians and everyone on the frontlin...
I believe that every one of us here tonight has as clear and vital a vocation as anyone in a religious order. We have the vocation of keeping alive Mr. Melcher's excitement in leading young people into an expanding imagination. Because of the very na...
A dog is der Hund the dog; a women is die Frau the wom[an]; a horse is das Pferd, the horse; now you put that dog in the Genitive case, & is he the same dog he was before? No sir; he is das Hundes; put him in the Dative case & what is he? Why, he is ...
My cousin Helen, who is in her 90s now, was in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. She and a bunch of the girls in the ghetto had to do sewing each day. And if you were found with a book, it was an automatic death penalty. She had gotten hold of a...
Week before last I went to Wesleyan and read “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” After it I went to one of the classes where I was asked questions. There were a couple of young teachers there and one of them, an earnest type, started asking the questio...
What struck me, in reading the reports from Sri Lanka, was the mild disgrace of belonging to our imperfectly evolved species in the first place. People who had just seen their neighbors swept away would tell the reporters that they knew a judgment ha...
White Americans have contented themselves with gestures that are now described as "tokenism". For hard example, white Americans congratulate themselves on the 1954 Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation in the schools; they suppose, in spite of...
Mason: I finally figured it out. It's like when they realized it was gonna be too expensive to actually build cyborgs and robots. I mean, the costs of that were impossible. They decided to just let humans turn themselves into robots. That's what's go...
Clementine: You don't tell me things, Joel. I'm an open book. I tell you everything... every damn embarrassing thing. You don't trust me. Joel: Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating. Clementine: I don't do that. I want to know you. [angr...
Mr. Kim: You got a message. Korben Dallas: Yeah Mr. Kim: You're not gonna open it? It might be important. Korben Dallas: Yeah, like the last two I got were important. The first one was from my wife, telling me she was leaving. The second was from my ...
Seamus Finnigan: Me mam didn't want me to come back this year. Harry Potter: Why not? Seamus Finnigan: [sarcastically] Let me see... because of you! The Daily Prophet's been saying a lot of things about you, Harry. About Dumbledore as well. Harry Pot...
[Nazi Colonel Vogel is torturing Henry to get answers] Colonel Vogel: Tell me about this miserable little diary of yours. The book is useless and yet you come all the way back to Berlin to get it. Why? [he slaps Henry in the face with his glove] Colo...
Detective Robert Nock: Mr Turing, can I tell you a secret? Alan Turing: I'm quite good with those. Detective Robert Nock: I'm here to help you. Alan Turing: Oh, clearly! Detective Robert Nock: Can machines think? Alan Turing: Oh, so you've read some ...
Billy Kramer: Who's gonna read me my bedtime stories? Ted Kramer: Mommy will. Billy Kramer: You're not gonna kiss me good night anymore, are you, Dad? Ted Kramer: No, I won't be able to do that. But, you know, I get to visit. It's gonna be ok, really...
Jack O'Callahan: [walking up to Craig, who's reading the tryout roster] Jimmy Craig. Jim Craig: Hey, Jack. Jack O'Callahan: What's up, you sieve? Jim Craig: [shakes hands] How's it going? Jack O'Callahan: Good. Jim Craig: [referring to tryout roster]...
[Annie has just read Paul's latest novel] Annie Wilkes: YOU! YOU DIRTY BIRD, HOW COULD YOU! Paul Sheldon: What? Annie Wilkes: She can't be dead, MISERY CHASTAIN CANNOT BE DEAD! Paul Sheldon: Annie, in 1871, women often died during childbirth. But her...
Jack Sparrow: That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship. Elizabeth: But you were marooned on this island before, weren't you? So we can escape in the same way you did then. Jack Sparrow: To what point and purpose, young...
Colter Stevens: Lily awoke in an evening dress and an opera cloak. In her hand were 5 playing cards. At some point today, you're gonna hear about a failed terrorist attack on a commuter train near Chicago. You and I kept that bomb from going off. If ...
Mrs. Cunningham: You know, I read of a case once. I think it would be a wonderful idea! I can take him out in the car, and when we get to a very lonely spot, knock him on the head with a hammer, pour gasoline over him and over the car, and set the wh...
Molly Brown: [to the group who are dining at the same table] Hey, uh, who thought of the name Titanic? Was it you, Bruce? Ismay: Yes, actually. I wanted to convey sheer size, and size means stability, luxury, and above all, strength. Rose: Do you kno...
