it strikes me that the writers most deeply concerned with the state of literary fiction and its biases against women could do a lot worse than trying to coin some terms of their own: to name the archetypes they wish to invert or criticise and thereby...
The president, the secretary of state, the businessman, the preacher, the vendor, the spies, the clients and managers—all walking around Wall Street like chickens with their heads cut off—rushing to escape bankruptcy—plotting to melt down the S...
The moment men begin to care more for education than for religion they begin to care more for ambition than for education. It is no longer a world in which the souls of all are equal before heaven, but a world in which the mind of each is bent on ach...
Were we to confront our creaturehood squarely, how would we propose to educate? The answer, I think is implied in the root of the word education, educe, which means "to draw out." What needs to be drawn out is our affinity for life. That affinity nee...
A proverb in the Old Testament states: 'He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city'. It is when we become angry that we get into trouble. The road rage that affects our highways is a h...
Ancient politicians talked incessantly about morality and virtue; our politicians talk only about business and money. One will tell you that in a particular country a man is worth the sum he could be sold for in Algiers; another, by following this ca...
All my moral and intellectual being is penetrated by an invincible conviction that whatever falls under the dominion of our senses must be in nature and, however exceptional, cannot differ in its essence from all the other effects of the visible and ...
Capt. Ross: Why did you go into Santiago's room that night? Galloway: The witness has rights! Capt. Ross: The witness has been read his rights, Commander! Judge Randolph: The question will be repeated. Galloway: Your Honor! Capt. Ross: Why did you go...
Police Detective: [to Henry] Hey, your pals are here. You don't want to talk to me, you're gonna have a fucking problem all night 'cause I'll be on you like shit. New York State. Twenty five fucking years, pal. [the detectives bring in the utensils H...
Colonel Smithers: We, here at the Bank of England, Mr. Bond, are the official depository for gold bullion... just as Fort Knox, Kentucky is for the United States. We know, of course, the amounts we each hold, we know the amounts deposited in other ba...
Olivia: Andrew, would you like to see Sam's ice skating tape? Sam: Mom, no. Andrew Largeman: Absolutely. Olivia: She was so ahead of her time. She could have gone to the Olympics. Sam: No! No, no, no. I couldn't have. Olivia: Yes you could have! Don'...
Sam: Large. I think I see one. Andrew Largeman: [crying] Shut up. Sam: Yeah, I do. Wait, wait, wait. We should save it or something. [runs to get a paper cup] Sam: Okay, don't move! Andrew Largeman: We could put it in my scrapbook if I had a scrapboo...
Prime Minister: Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love...
Noodles: Who is Secretary Bailey? Deborah Gelly: Secretary Bailey is a rich businessman. He came to the United States as an immigrant and made a lot of money in San Francisco and L.A., where he's lived for 30 years. Noodles: I know all that, it's all...
Olson Johnson: [after Gabby Johnson's speech] Now who can argue with that? I think we're all indebted to Gabby Johnson for clearly stating what needed to be said. I'm particulary glad that these lovely children were here today to hear that speech. No...
[Visser has just given Marty some bad news] Marty: You know... in Greece, they would cut off the head of the messenger that brought the bad news. Private Detective Visser: Now that don't make much sense. Marty: No. It made them feel better. Private D...
As I looked down at him, as I saw his yellow hair pressed against my coat, I had a vision of him from long ago, that tall, stately gentleman in the swirling black cape, with his head thrown back, his rich, flawless voice singing the lilting air of th...
On the Gallows Once Kofi Awoonor I crossed quite a few of your rivers, my gods, into this plain where thirst reigns I heard the cry of mourners the long cooing of the African wren at dusk the laughter of the children at dawn had long ceased night com...
You raise one eyebrow and regard me with another intense stare. “Start by stripping please Jenna.” I hear what you say and yet on some level I can’t quite process it. “Strip?” I ask, as though I don’t understand your demand. “Yes, strip...
I break out laughing. I frown. I yell and scream. Sometimes, if one jokes and giggles, one causes war. So I hide how tickled I am. Tears well up in my eyes. My body is a large city. Much grieving in one sector. I live in another part. Lakewater. Some...
Tell me what you do with the food you eat, and I'll tell you who you are. Some turn their food into fat and manure, some into work and good humor, and others, I'm told, into God. So there must be three sorts of men. I'm not one of the worst, boss, no...
