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W Quotes

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All W Quotes

“What do we call the river? Every moment the water is changing, the shore is changing, every moment the environment is changing, what is the river then? It is the name of this series of changes.”

“What do we choose it imagine, when we choose? The answer is always revelatory, which is one of the reasons Chesterton was right to say that 'the simple need for some kind of ideal world in which fictitious people play an unhampered part is infinitely deeper and older than the rules of good art, and much more important.' The Harry Potter books remind us of this, and they can be, if we read them rightly, both a delight in themselves and a school for our own imaginings. They have many flaws, but I have not dwelt on them here because I forgive J.K. Rowling for every one. Her seven books are, and thank God for it, always on the side of life. (The Youngest Brother's Tale)”

“What do we do by following these words or rules, laws, prophets and their revelations, and religions? We only believe in those who uttered and wrote these words and revelations. However, we do not know if there were any revelations in the first place or even if they were “real” to become the measures or expressions of truth or God automatically. There is nothing beyond this secret except our belief not in God but in the people (so-called prophets).”

“What do we do now?” I asked. “We keep you safe,” he said, kissing the top of my head. I didn't understand everything that was going on in this strange town. I had no idea if the picture he'd drawn would really come true. But I knew he wouldn't lie to me. And I knew that he would be there for me. Some wall between us had come crashing down. There in his arms, I felt safer than I ever dreamed I could.”

“What do we feel when we look at a good photograph? We just want to be there, right at the exact moment that photo taken!”

“What do we find, here in America, in the field of 'politics?' We find first a party system which is the technical arrangement to carry on a fight. It is perfectly conceivable that a flourishing democratic government be carried on without any parties at all; public functionaries being elected on their merits, and each proposed measure judged on its merits; though this sounds impossible to the androcentric mind. 'There has never been a democracy without factions and parties!" is protested. There has never been a democracy, so far--only an androcracy.”

“What do we get out of people thinking we’re fine? I mean, I know I get threatening letters on our dashboard when we’re upstate and we park in a handicapped space. You get teachers who don’t believe you when you need a break, and people not giving up seats on the subway, and your dad thinking you’re fine. How would your life actually be harder if you looked sick?”

“What do we know … of the world and the universe about us? Our means of receiving impressions are absurdly few, and our notions of surrounding objects infinitely narrow. We see things only as we are constructed to see them, and can gain no idea of their absolute nature. With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundlessly complex cosmos, yet other beings with wider, stronger, or different range of senses might not only see very differently the things we see, but might see and study whole worlds of matter, energy, and life which lie close at hand yet can never be detected with the senses we have.”

“What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?”

“What do we mean by a public square? For starters, it is rarely square. . . . It may be a quadrangle or rectangle or circle or pretty much any shape, and it can be open or closed. It might even be a park . . . through which people pass, going from one place to another, not simply a retreat. A square is porous, balancing its porousness with some focal point, like a fountain or a reliable patch of sun with some benches that marks a break from the cars and streets and invites people to stop, look, exhale, find one another [Michael Kimmelman, "Part One: Culture: Power of the Place, Introduction"].”

“What do we mean by poverty? Not what Dickens or Blake or Mayhew meant. Today no one seriously expects to go hungry in England or to live without running water or medical care or even TV. Poverty has been redefined in industrial countries, so that anyone at the lower end of the income distribution is poor ex officio, as it were-poor by virtue of having less than the rich. And of course by this logic, the only way of eliminating poverty is by an egalitarian redistribution of wealth-even if the society as a whole were to become poorer as a result.”

“What do we mean by the defeat of the enemy? Simply the destruction of his forces, whether by death, injury, or any other means-either completely or enough to make him stop fighting. . . . The complete or partial destruction of the enemy must be regarded as the sole object of all engagements. . . . Direct annihilation of the enemy's forces must always be the dominant consideration.”