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Quote by Olivia Goldsmith

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Olivia Goldsmith
Olivia Goldsmith

Olivia Goldsmith was an American author known for her suspense novels and biographies. Her works often feature real-life events as a backdrop, combined with fictional elements, and were well-received by readers. more

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“[Ritual] dwells in an invisible reality and gives this reality a vocabulary, props, costume, gesture, scenery. Ritual makes things separate, sets them apart from ordinary affairs and thoughts. Rituals need not be solemn, but they are formalized, stylized, extraordinary, and artificial. In the name of ritual, we can do anything. We can do astonishing acts. In the end, ritual gives us assurance about the unification of things.”

NeedsGivingEndsRealityNamesCan DoOrdinaryExtraordinaryAffairInvisibleRitualArtificialGesturesCostumesVocabularyAssuranceAstonishingSolemnPropsSceneryUnification
Author:Barbara Myerhoff
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“All rituals are paradoxical and dangerous enterprises, the traditional and improvised, the sacred and the secular. Paradoxical because rituals are conspicuously artificial and theatrical, yet designed to suggest the inevitability and absolute truth of their messages. Dangerous because when we are not convinced by a ritual we may become aware of ourselves as having made them up, thence on the paralyzing realization that we have made up all our truths; our ceremonies, our most precious conceptions and convictions - all are mere inventions.”

MayMadeDangerousMessagesAbsolutesSacredMereConvictionConvincedInventionTraditionalRealizationEnterpriseConceptionRitualArtificialSecularCeremonyTheatricalInevitabilityParadoxicalAbsolute Truth
Author:Barbara Myerhoff
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“Kids are without a doubt the most suspicious diners in the world. They will eat mud (raw or baked) rocks, paste, crayons, ball-point pens, moving goldfish, cigarette butts, and cat food. Try to coax a little beef stew into their mouths and they look at you like a puppy when you stand over him with the Sunday paper rolled up.”

WorldTryingLooksLittlesKidsMovingDoubtRocksPaperEatingMouthsCatBallsSundayPensCigaretteMudSuspiciousPuppyBeefStewCrayonDinersGoldfishLittle BeeCat Food
Book:The Erma Bombeck Collection: If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?, Motherhood, and The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank
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“When the history of guilt is written, parents who refuse their children money will be right up there in the Top Ten.”

ChildrenParentMoneyWrittenTenGuiltRefuse
Book:The Erma Bombeck Collection: If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?, Motherhood, and The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank
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