J. R. R. Tolkien, the near-universally-hailed father of modern epic fantasy, crafted his magnum opus The Lord of the Rings to explore the forces of creation as he saw them: God and country, race and class, journeying to war and returning home. I’ve...
...a bad diet will eventually kill our dreams. It's essential that we constantly evaluate the nutritional value of what we are feeding ourselves. It may come down to how many hours of television we're viewing, the quality of the programs we're watchi...
We were to write a short essay on one of the works we read in the course and relate it to our lives. I chose the "Allegory of the Cave" in Plato's Republic. I compared my childhood of growing up in a family of migrant workers with the prisoners who w...
There are a lot of ways for a novelist to create suspense, but also really only two: one a trick, one an art. The trick is to keep a secret. Or many secrets, even. In Lee Child’s books, Jack Reacher always has a big mystery to crack, but there are ...
The man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough. I will see what others have inven...
What you need is a chick from Camden,' Van Patten says, after recovering from McDermott's statement. Oh great,' I say. 'Some chick who thinks it's okay to fuck her brother.' Yeah, but they think AIDS is a new band from England,' Price points out. Whe...
A novel works it's magic by putting a reader inside another person's life. The pace is as slow as life. It's as detailed as life. It requires you, the reader, to fill in an outline of words with vivid pictures drawn subconsciously from your own life,...
Do not oversleep and miss the school bus- you'll be late. That's a habit teachers generally don't appreciate. Never tell your friends at school that you still wet your bed. They are sure to tease you, and you'll wish that you were dead. Never call yo...
Well that ain’t so. You get babies from each other. But there’s this man, too—he has all these babies just waitin‘ to wake up, he breathes life into ’em…” Dill was off again. Beautiful things floated around in his dreamy head. He could ...
There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it. In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness,...
Kirk: Kirk to Enterprise. Spock: Spock here. Kirk: Captain Spock, damage report. Spock: Admiral, if we go "by the book". like Lieutenant Saavik, hours could seem like days. Kirk: I read you captain. Let's have it. Spock: The situation is grave, Admir...
Hannibal Lecter: First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek? Clarice Starling: He kills women... Hannibal Lecter: No. That is...
C.A. Swan: [referring to the bribe money Tony is offering him to kill Margot] You know the police would only have to trace one of these notes back to you to hang us both from the same rope? Tony Wendice: They won't. For a whole year I've been cashing...
Ellerby: This unit is new, and you are the newest members of it. You have been selected from the basis of intelligence and aptitude. This is an elite unit. Our job is to smash, or marginally disrupt, organized crime in the city by enhanced cooperatio...
Kristofferson: Uh, do you mind if I slide my bed roll slightly out from under the train set? It's hard to sleep in that corkscrew position. Ash: [in the top bunk] There's a lot of attitudes going on around here. Don't let me get one. Kristofferson: N...
Zero: [Reading a letter from M. Gustave] "My dear and trusted colleagues..." M. Gustave: I miss you deeply as I write from the confines of my regrettable and preposterous incarceration. Until I walk amongst you again as a free man, the Grand Budapest...
[Inspecting Dana's refrigerator for paranormal activity] Dr. Peter Venkman: Oh, my *God*. Look at all the junk food! Dana Barrett: Oh, no, Goddammit. None of this was here... Dr. Peter Venkman: You actually eat this? Dana Barrett: Look, this wasn't h...
Lt. Aldo Raine: You know, where I'm from... Col. Hans Landa: Yeah, where is that, exactly? Lt. Aldo Raine: Maynardville, Tennessee. [pause] Lt. Aldo Raine: I've done my share of bootlegging. Up 'ere, if you engage in what the federal government calls...
Dash: She would be eating if we were having Tony loaf. Violet: That's it! [jumps at Dash] Helen: Both of you sit down! [Dash runs around the table, hitting Violet as he passes her, until Violet makes a force field to stop him] Dash: Hey! No force fie...
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna: Mother. Mother Sister Alberto: Yes? Alberto Granado: We want to eat. Ernesto Guevara de la Serna: We deserve to eat like everyone else. Mother Sister Alberto: Yes, but you didn't go to mass. Ernesto Guevara de la Serna: N...
Harvey Milk: [answering the phone] Scotty? Paul: I'm sorry, sir. I read about you in the paper. Harvey Milk: I'm sorry, I can't talk right now. Paul: Sir, I think I'm gonna kill myself. Harvey Milk: No, you don't want to do that. Where are you callin...
