“For me, the short story is not a character sketch, a mouse trap, an epiphany, a slice of suburban life. It is the flowering of a symbol center. It is a poem grafted onto sturdier stock.”
― William H. Gass
“Are we, then, insane because we have not gone mad?”
―from THE SLEEPWALKERS by Hermann Broch
“The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still small voice' within me. And even though I have to face the prospect of being a minority of one, I humbly believe I have the courage to be in such a hopeless minority.”
― Mahatma Gandhi, The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas
“Atticus, you must be wrong."
"How's that?"
"Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong. . ."
"They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions," said Atticus, "but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
"Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful. "
--Nietzsche
"Vote for the crook. It's important."
(Text of a pro-Edwin-Edwards bumper sticker during the 1991 Louisiana governor's race, not endorsed by the campaign.)
“[T]he infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.”
― Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays
"The thing under my bed waiting to grab my ankle isn't real. I know that, and I also know that if I'm careful to keep my foot under the covers, it will never be able to grab my ankle." - Stephen King
@edgarblythe,
Q: Why is Trump doing so well when his reputation is in the toilet?
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/elections/
Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain.
Vladimir Putin
"Fascists decide that you’re a criminal, then they find the crime."
--Bill Maher
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
― Albert Einstein
@edgarblythe,
I'm writing a book. It's taken me six years struggling so far to decide on the first word.
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."
from 1984, by Orwell.
@cicerone imposter,
Hang in there, CI. Rome wasn't built in a day (I made that up).
@edgarblythe,
The big Hangup is the fact that the first sentence is the most important to introduce the story. E.g. Once upon a decade......
@cicerone imposter,
Some say to write a first and second chapter and then toss the first chapter.
