Thursday, July 24, 2008

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway


How's this for great language usage!
Hat tip to pops.

"When Insults Had Class.........

There was a time when words were used beautifully. These glorious insults are from an era when cleverness with words was still valued, before a great portion of the English language was boiled down to four-letter epithets!

The exchange between Churchill and Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband, I'd give you poison," and he said, "If you were my wife, I'd take it."

Gladstone, a member of Parliament, to Benjamin Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."
"That depends, sir," said Disraeli, "On whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr


"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." -Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas

"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second.. . if there is one!" - Winston Churchill, in response.

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop

He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson

"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." -Jack E. Leonard

"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford

"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."- Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man use s lamp-posts... for support, rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx"
graph per wiki: Ernest Hemingway

Pioneer Day, What Is It?



Happy Pioneer Day, Utah folks!
Some of the emails I received today had 'Pioneer Day' sprinkled on them since some of my associates had a day off work today as a result.
So, for those of you non-Utah-informed readers, Pioneer Day is on the 24th of July. It is a state holiday in Utah and, if my memory from my days living there serves me right, there is also a Pioneer Day Parade.
Learn more about this holiday here.
graphs via google images

Happiness Project

I have a hard time with phrases like 'working on being/getting happy' because, to me, they simply add much pressure and a good measure of anxiety, among other things. Ergo, I agreed with many of Tyler's answers. People are as they are and seeking [solely] a non-ending state of bliss sounds not only bizarre but also problematic. Plus, doesn't it sort of get in the way of our respective productivity?

So, Gretchen Rubin's interview with one of my favorite bloggers, economist Tyler Cowen, is worth a read.

Here's a bit:

"Gretchen: What’s a simple activity that consistently makes you happier?
Tyler: Why don't we start with food, sleep, and sex? There's writing, blogging, and reading too, not to mention consuming artificially created stories. In fact most of life seems to fit under #1.

Gretchen: What’s something you know now about happiness that you didn’t know when you were 18 years old?
Tyler: I wasn't so wise at 18 but I'm still not so wise today. I have the same basic temperament, which is the main thing.

Gretchen: Is there anything you find yourself doing repeatedly that gets in the way of your happiness?
Tyler: Not that I can think of. Being grudge-free is very important and I've done OK on that score."
Read more here.