Writing keeps me at my desk, constantly trying to write a perfect sentence. It is a great privilege to make one’s living from writing sentences. The sentence is the greatest invention of civilization. To sit all day long assembling these extraordin...
So they were pen pals now, Emma composing long, intense letters crammed with jokes and underlining, forced banter and barely concealed longing; two-thousand-word acts of love on air-mail paper. Letters, like compilation tapes, were really vehicles fo...
A zoologist who observed gorillas in their native habitat was amazed by the uniformity of their life and their vast idleness. Hours and hours without doing anything. Was boredom unknown to them? This is indeed a question raised by a human, a busy ape...
Unfortunately we find systems of education today that have departed so far from the plain truth that they now teach us to be proud of what we know and ashamed of ignorance. This is doubly corrupt. It is corrupt not only because pride is in itself a m...
The sage of Nazareth may satisfy those who have never faced the problem of evil in their own lives; but to talk about an ideal to those who are under the thralldom of sin is a cruel mockery. Yet if Jesus was merely a man like the rest of men, then an...
I can't understand how people can settle for having just one life. I remember we were in English class and we were talking about that poem by - that one guy. David Frost. 'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood-' You know this poem, right? 'Two roads di...
Our two souls therefore, which are one, Though I must go, endure not yet A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to aery thinness beat. If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two ; Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show To move, b...
Robert Frobisher: Sixsmith. I climb the steps of the Scott Monument every morning and all becomes clear. Wish I could make you see this brightness. Don't worry, all is well. All is so perfectly, damnably well. I understand now that boundaries between...
Jim Braddock: Max, my wife Mae. Max Baer: You are far too pretty to be a widow. Jim Braddock: That's not nice, Max. Not nice. Come on. [starts to leave] Max Baer: On second thought, maybe I can comfort you after he's gone. Joe Gould: Hey, I said shut...
Miss Shields: Now I know that some of you put Flick up to this, but he has refused to say who. But those who did it know their blame, and I'm sure that the guilt you feel is far worse than any punishment you might receive. Now, don't you feel terribl...
[Eric is Playing a Melancholic rendition of 'Part of Your World' on his flute as Grimsby aproaches] Grimsby: Eric, if I may say, far better than any dream girl is one of flesh and blood. One warm, and caring, and right before your eyes [Grimsby Motio...
Kathy: You keep away from me! Just because you're a big movie star, wild parties, swimming pools, you expect every girl to fall in a dead faint at your feet. Well, don't you touch me! Don Lockwood: [chanting] Fear not, sweet lady! I will not molest y...
Princess Leia Organa: No! Alderaan is peaceful! We have no weapons, you can't possibly... Governor Tarkin: [impatiently] You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system! I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time...
Oompa Loompas: Oompa Loompa doo-pa-dee do / I've got another puzzle for you / Oompa Loompa doo-pa-dee dee / If you are wise you'll listen to me / Gum chewing's fine when it's once in a while / It stops you from smoking and brightens your smile / But ...
Oompa Loompas: Oompa Loompa doo-pa-dee doo / I've got a perfect puzzle for you / Oompa Loompa doo-pa-dee dee / If you are wise you'll listen to me / What do you get when you guzzle down sweets? / Eating as much as an elephant eats / What are you at g...
Natasha Romanoff: [on the phone] Where is Barton now? Agent Phil Coulson: We don't know. Natasha Romanoff: But he's alive? Agent Phil Coulson: We think so. I'll brief you on everything when you get back. But first, we need you to talk to the big guy....
[Carlyle has asked to see Frost before he dies] Lt. Col. John Frost: Hello, Harry. Major Harry Carlyle: Hello. Johnny. Lt. Col. John Frost: You know, Harry; I always wanted to ask you, but didn't because I knew you so very much wanted me to and I did...
Lt. General Horrocks: Kickoff will be at 14:35 hours tomorrow afternoon. The Irish Guards under the command of Col. Vandeleur will take the lead. Lt. Colonel J.O.E. Vandeleur: [sotto voce] Christ, not us again. Lt. General Horrocks: What'd you say to...
Field Marshall Gerd von Runstedt: Let's get to the point. Air power? Major General Gunther Blumentritt: Air power, Field Marshall... Field Marshall Gerd von Runstedt: Briefly, please. Major General Gunther Blumentritt: Air power is minimal. Field Mar...
Brigadier General Gavin: What's the best way to take a bridge? Maj. Julian Cook: Both ends at once. Brigadier General Gavin: I'm sending two companies across the river by boat. I need a man with very special qualities to lead. Maj. Julian Cook: Go on...
[Stout and Vanderleur are discussing how to get the Bailey bridge through town] Lt. Colonel J.O.E. Vandeleur: When you refer to Bailey crap I take it you mean that glorious, precision-made, British-built bridge which is the envy of the civilized worl...
