A novel, in which all is created by the author's whim, must strike a more profound level of truth, or it is worthless." "And yet, I have heard you say that any novel that relieves your ennui for an hour has proved its usefulness." "You have a good me...
I will admit that I wanted to shout for standing on the top of a scaffold in front of a good new wall always goes to my head. It is a sensation something between that of an angel let out of his cage into a new sky and a drunkard turned loose in a roy...
And after the briefest flowering of understanding, my own generation had grown complacent. At some level, we must have started taking it for granted that the way the universe worked was now obvious to any child ... even though it went against everyth...
For me, art in our time is strongest when it is aware of science, includes science, is inspired by science, or is about science. On the linguistic level, the new words coined by scientists to describe their new discoveries form a giant growing lexico...
From the standpoint of the upper classes, the system had many merits. They felt that what was paid out of the poor rate was charity, and therefore a proof of their benevolence; at the same time, wages were kept at starvation level by a method which j...
I am opposed to animal welfare campaigns for two reasons. First, if animal use cannot be morally justified, then we ought to be clear about that, and advocate for no use. Although rape and child molestation are ubiquitous, we do not have campaigns fo...
Countries with a high percentage of nonbelievers are among the freest, most stable, best-educated, and healthiest nations on earth. When nations are ranked according to a human-development index, which measures such factors as life expectancy, litera...
[Saito has been shot in the chest] Cobb: How's he doing? Ariadne: He's in a lot of pain. Cobb: When we get down to the lower levels, the pain will be less intense. Ariadne: And if he dies? Cobb: Worst case scenario? When he wakes up, his mind is comp...
Karen Clarke: What's going on there, Simon? Simon Foster: It's... It's departmental business. It's about a wall. Karen Clarke: Oh, Gaza? Simon Foster: Uh-huh. Karen Clarke: I'm wondering where you were in committee, Simon. I called for back-up and yo...
Will Munny: Who's the fellow owns this shithole? [pause] Will Munny: You, fat man. Speak up. Skinny Dubois: Uh, I... I own this establishment. I bought the place from Greeley for a thousand dollars. [Will levels the shotgun, and speaks to someone sta...
Baymax: [to Hiro, who's stuck and buried under a pile of action figures] On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain? Hiro: [irritated] Zero. Baymax: It is alright to cry. Hiro: No! No, no, no, no, no! Baymax: [picks up Hiro and holds him ...
[Marty and Doc are asking how fast the train could go] Marty McFly: Do you think it's possible to get it up to... 90? Engineer: Ha! 90? Tarnation, son, who'd ever need to be in such a hurry? Doc: Well, it's just a little bet he and I have, that's all...
How do we find words for describing levels of betrayal and emotional, physical, sexual and spiritual torture that fragment and destroy a child or cast and case traumatic shadows over the whole of adult life? We might, as a society, slowly find it pos...
Japan likewise put her hopes of victory on a different basis from that prevalent in the United States. (...) Even when she was winning, her civilian statesmen, her High Command, and her soldiers repeated that this was no contest between armaments; it...
Strike had never wanted children; it was one of the things on which he and Charlotte had always agreed, and it had been one of the reasons other relationships over the years had foundered. Lucy deplored his attitude, and the reasons he gave for it; s...
Hence [through No Child Left Behind] the state has been given power...to fire all teachers and principles. So here we have an unusual case in which the students are engaged in the performances, but the high stakes have been displaced onto the teacher...
We must learn, then, not to HAVE a spirituality, something we turn on at a particular place or time, but to BE spiritual, as a habit of life, a continuous state of being. It is to this end that we seek after God in the stillness and hubbub of life, b...
Alec had his arms around Magnus and was kissing him, full on the mouth. Magnus, who appeared to in a state of shock, stood frozen. Several groups of people- Shadowhunters and Downworlders alike- were staring and whispering. Glancing to the side, Simo...
The 'pre-emption' versus 'prevention' debate may be a distinction without much difference. The important thing is to have it understood that the United States is absolutely serious. The jihadists have in the past bragged that America is too feeble an...
The United States spends over $87 billion conducting a war in Iraq while the United Nations estimates that for less than half that amount we could provide clean water, adequate diets, sanitations services and basic education to every person on the pl...
All that we make and do is shaped by the communities and traditions that contain us, not to mention by money, power, politics, and luck. And even should the artist or scientist think she has extracted herself from the world to stand alone in the stud...
