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Absurd Quotes

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Absurd Quotes

“That soul-destroying, meaningless, mechanical, moronic work is an insult to human nature which must necessarily and inevitably produce either escapism or aggression, and that no amount of 'bread and circuses' can compensate for the damage done-these are facts which are neither denied nor acknowledged but are met with an unbreakable conspiracy of silence-because to deny them would be too obviously absurd and to acknowledge them would condemn the central preoccupation of modern society as a crime against humanity.”

HumansSoulDoneFactsWould BeHumanitySilenceModernHuman NatureCrimeProduceAmountMetsDenyBreadAbsurdMaking MoneyAcknowledgeDamageInsultDestroyingMeaninglessDeniedConspiracyAggressionCircusEscapismPreoccupationModern SocietyUnbreakableCrimes Against HumanitySmall Is BeautifulBread And Circuses
Book:SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
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“To talk of comparing the Bible with other "sacred books" so called, such as the Koran...or the book of Mormon, is positively absurd. You might as well compare the sun with a rushlight, or Skiddaw with a molehill, or St. Paul's with an Irish hovel, or the Portland vase with a garden pot, or the Kohinoor diamond with a bit of glass. God seems to have allowed the existence of these pretended revelations, in order to prove the immeasurable superiority of His own Word.”

WellsBookSeemsMightOrderBitsExistenceSunProveBibleGardenSacredGlassesAbsurdCompareRevelationsPotDiamondSuperiorityPositivelyVasesPortland
Author:J. C. Ryle
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“Our researchers into Public Opinion are content That he held the proper opinions for the time of year; When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went. He was married and added five children to the population, Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation, And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education. Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had everything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.”

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Author:W. H. Auden
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“By the time I actually recorded Bitter Tears I carried a heavy load of sadness and outrage; I felt every word of those songs... I expected there to be trouble with that album, and there was.... when it was released, many radio stations wouldn't play it.... The very idea of unconventional or even original ideas ending up on "country" radio in the late 1990s is absurd.”

IdeasCountryPlaySongFeltTroubleSadnessMediaTearsLateOriginalsRadioAlbumsHeavyExpectedAbsurdBitterStationsLoadOutrageOriginal IdeasUnconventionalRadio StationsHeavy Loads
Author:Johnny Cash
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“Rise early. It is the early bird that catches the worm. Don't be fooled by this absurd law; I once knew a man who tried it. He got up at sunrise and a horse bit him.”

MenLawBitsBirdHorseAbsurdSunriseWormsFooledEarly Bird
Book:The Complete Works of Mark Twain (Illustrated Edition): Novels, Short Stories, Memoir, Travel Books, Letters, Biography, Articles & Speeches: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, Yankee in King Arthur's Court…
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“Most men are followers, and implicitly rely upon the judgment of others. They mistake solemnity for wisdom, and regard a grave countenance as the title page and Preface to a most learned volume. So they are easily imposed upon by forms, strange garments, and solemn ceremonies. And when the teaching of parents, the customs of neighbors, and the general tongue approve and justify a belief or creed, no matter how absurd, it is hard even for the strongest to hold the citadel of his soul. In each country, in defence of each religion, the same arguments would be urged.”

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Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“If you meditate long enough, deep enough, it is impossible for you to hurt anybody for food; it is impossible. It is not a question of argument, it is not a question of scriptures, it is not who says what, it is not a question of calculating that if you take vegetarian food you will become spiritual; it is automatic. It is not a question of cunningness, you simply become spiritual. The whole thing seems so absurd. Just for food, killing animals, birds, seems so absurd, it falls down.”

IfsLongEnoughWholeSeemsSpiritualFallHurtAnimalImpossibleBirdArgumentKillingScriptureAbsurdVegetarianFalling DownVegetarianismCalculatingVegetarian FoodKilling Animals
Author:Rajneesh
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“. . . I do think that deep down, a lot of my work is about people trying to make reasonable accommodations of situations that are insane or absurd. . . . At first I thought the events had power in themselves, that I would just present them. I really wasn't aware of the things that finally became central issues to me - the shifting alliances, the way people hardly even know they've shifted. That part of [A QUESTION OF MERCY] is very familiar to me in terms of my other plays.”

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Author:David Rabe
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“[Men] prefer the foolish belief and the passions of the earth [to the enlightenment of their souls]. They believe the absurd and shrink from the truth.No, they do not. They are afraid, that is all. And they must remain on earth until they come to the way of leaving it.And how do they leave? How is the ascent made? Must one learn virtue?Here she laughs. You have read too much, and learned too little. Virtue is a road, not a destination. Man cannot be virtuous. Understanding is the goal. When that is achieved, the soul can take wing.”

MenWayBelieveLittlesMadeSoulEarthPassionBeliefUnderstandingGoalLaughingVirtueToo MuchEnlightenmentWingsLeavingFoolishAbsurdDestinationVirtuousShrinksAscent
Author:Iain Pears
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“The public has always, and in every age, been badly brought up. They are continually asking Art to be popular, to please their want of taste, to flatter their absurd vanity, to tell them what they have been told before, to show them what they ought to be tired of seeing, to amuse them when they feel heavy after eating too much, and to distract their thoughts when they are wearied of their own stupidity.”

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Book:The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: Novel, Short Stories, Poetry, Essays and Plays
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“Life is not an orderly progression, self-contained like a musical scale or a quadratic equation... If one is to record one's life truthfully, one must aim at getting into the record of it something of the disorderly discontinuity which makes it so absurd, unpredictable, bearable.”

IfsSelfLife IsRecordsAimMusicalScalesAbsurdTruth Of LifeUnpredictableEquationsProgressionOrderlyBearableSelf ContainedDiscontinuityQuadraticsQuadratic Equation
Author:Leonard Woolf
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“I like to imagine a person's psyche to be like a boardinghouse full of characters. The ones who show up regularly and who habitually follow the house rules may not have met other long-term residents who stay behind closed doors, or who only appear at night. An adequate theory of character must make room for character actors, for the stuntmen and animal handlers, for all the figures who play bit parts and produce unexpected acts. They often make the show fateful, or tragic, or farcically absurd.”

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Author:James Hillman
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“The earlier, more analytic impulse was to use very rational but kind of absurd techniques or tendencies—mapping, charting, and architecture—to try and make sense of who I was in my time and space and political environment. But there’s only so much truth to a theoretical understanding of something.”

TryingKindUsePoliticalUnderstandingSpaceEnvironmentArchitectureTechniqueRationalAbsurdTendenciesImpulseMake SenseMy TimeTime And SpaceTheoreticalAnalyticsMappingChartingPolitical Environment
Author:Julie Mehretu
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