Reply
Sun 17 Jun, 2012 07:08 pm
The usage of bare "dying" gives me an unpleasant feeling, because it sounds active while "when dying" a bit more euphemistic.
Context:
Man's dearest possession is life, and it is given to him to live but once. He must live so as to feel no torturing regrets for years without purpose, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past--so live that, dying, he can say: all my life, all my strength were given to the finest cause in all over the world--the fight for the liberation of mankind. ---Ostorovsky
@JTT,
JTT wrote:
Either would work, Ori.
But this doesn't.
in all over the world
This does.
in all the world
Thanks.
But I have had a hunch that "when dying" sounds a bit more auspicious, for it is natural (all mortals die) and passive... while bare "dying" sounds active (unnatural).
@oristarA,
May I suggest
Quote:-so live that, dying, he can say
...so live that, at the end, he can say
sounds a little better to me.
@McTag,
McTag wrote:
May I suggest
Quote:-so live that, dying, he can say
...so live that, at the end, he can say
sounds a little better to me.
Thank you, McTag.
Does the context in the thread sound British? Or American?
@oristarA,
If u r
QUOTING what Ostorovsky said,
then u can 't properly change what he actually said. That 'd be
liberal.
David
@oristarA,
Neither British nor American, I would say...by which I mean, it would sit well enough in either.
It reads like what it is- a translation. It is written in slightly old-fashioned and portentous style.
@OmSigDAVID,
OmSigDAVID wrote:
If u r QUOTING what Ostorovsky said,
then u can 't properly change what he actually said. That 'd be liberal.
David
Who cares? Lenin and Stalin and their followers were haunted by hallucinations and ended with terrorism.
@McTag,
McTag wrote:
Neither British nor American, I would say...by which I mean, it would sit well enough in either.
It reads like what it is- a translation. It is written in slightly old-fashioned and portentous style.
portentous style? a style of commies?
Selected Answer
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace