Anatoly Vorobey (avva) wrote,
Anatoly Vorobey
avva

commonplace book

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<span style="color: #000666; font-family: Verdana, "Lucida Grande", Tahoma, Helvetica;">A commenter named "Barry" at a <a href="http://www.crookedtimber.org/archives/001688.html">Crooked Timber weblog entry</a></span>

“Somebody once reflected on the Disney ride ‘Pirates of the Carribean’. He pointed out that pirate raids were sort of like large-scale terrorist attacks, and wondered if, in a few centuries, there’d be an amusement park ride ‘Fall of the Twin Towers’.

I think that there will be, but in far less than a few centuries.”
<hr width="30%">
<span style="color: #000666; font-family: Verdana, "Lucida Grande", Tahoma, Helvetica;">Jasper Fforde, <i>The Eyre Affair</i></span>

“They had two chances: fat and slim.”
<hr width="30%">
<span style="color: #000666; font-family: Verdana, "Lucida Grande", Tahoma, Helvetica;">Jacques Barzun, <i>The Scholar Is an Institution</i> (The Journal of Higher Education, Nov. 1947)</span>

“It is an unfortunate fact that an atmosphere of democratic equality tends to make people endlessly justify their existence.”
<hr width="30%">
<span style="color: #000666; font-family: Verdana, "Lucida Grande", Tahoma, Helvetica;"><i>Ibid.</i></span>

“The history of scholarship is one long fulfillment of the formula: ‘Look! It is not as you think.’ ”
<hr width="30%">
<lj-cut text="More commonplace selections">
<span style="color: #000666; font-family: Verdana, "Lucida Grande", Tahoma, Helvetica;">Athenians to Melos, in Thucydides <i>History</i> (Book 5, Chapter 17)</span>

<b>Athenians.</b> For ourselves, we shall not trouble you with specious pretences—either of how we have a right to our empire because we overthrew the Mede, or are now attacking you because of wrong that you have done us—and make a long speech which would not be believed; and in return we hope that you, instead of thinking to influence us by saying that you did not join the Lacedaemonians, although their colonists, or that you have done us no wrong, will aim at what is feasible, holding in view the real sentiments of us both; <b>since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.</b>

<small><i>(emphasis mine)</i></small>

<hr width="30%">
<span style="color: #000666; font-family: Verdana, "Lucida Grande", Tahoma, Helvetica;">Randall Jarrell, <i>Pictures From an Institution</i></span>

<small>[a conversation between a professor and a creative writing student]</small>

“What’s your story about?” I asked.
“It’s about a bug that turns into a man.”
“Really?” I said. “That sounds very unusual.”
“Oh, it <i>is</i>. It’s—it’s influenced by Kafka," she said, looking down shyly.
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