Friday 15 October 2010

October 15

Lest they mistake the plain for the simple, campaigners for plain English should consider the words: ‘Is not’.
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What if arcadia is a place, not of refuge, but of protest?
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The masochist can come to love most pains except himself.
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Arrian recounts that Alexander the Great endured the rebuke of an Indian philosopher. “You roam presumptuously over the world, giving no rest to yourself or others. Yet soon you will die, and possess no more of the earth than suffices for your burial.” Alexander praised his critic, accepted the reproof of a conquered people – then resumed his conquests. There is no truth that can be spoken to power that power cannot cheerfully ignore.
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Concision is a virtue only in part. The aphorism, in its brevity, also shrugs off the burden of proof.
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Just read ‘sales assistant’ as ‘slaves assistant’ –– though which of us is meant I can’t be certain.
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Happiness is a by-product. Make it your goal and you will always shoot wide.
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Those who deny the existence of ghosts must forget their dreams the moment they waken.
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Familiarity can also breed comfort. Finding myself alone for the evening, I curl up with a cup of tea in front of The Shining.