“Politics have always covered two distinct kinds of problems: problems of administrative routine, and those that may be called 'questions of the moment.' A question of the moment is, indeed, a substitute for some notion, such as the idea of God, or hereditary monarchy, or national glory, that has hitherto acted as a symbol of human co-ordination. It provides no new positive certainty to replace the discredited certainty, but is what the name implies: the raising of a question which the old certainty no longer answers.” HumansKindMayTwoIdeasMomentsProblemNamesAnswersGloryNotionSymbolsCertaintySubstitutesCoveredRoutineMonarchyAdministrativeHereditaryOrdination Author:Laura Riding
“Letter-writing I imagine is counted as 'work' from which you must abstain, and I scribble this letter simply from the self-satisfied notion that you will like to hear from me. You see, I have asked no questions, which are the torture-screws of correspondence. Hence you have nothing to answer.” WritingSelfAnswersImagineLettersNotionSatisfiedTortureScrewsCorrespondenceScribblesLetter Writing Book:Life and letters Source: Life and letters
“The truth is, some of these comments, when you actually ask 'well, this is based on what? This notion that Obama's a socialist, for example?' Nobody can really give you a good answer.” GivingWellsAsksAnswersExampleTruth IsNotionCommentSocialist Author:Barack Obama
“Don't freight your answers with any notions of what you're "supposed" to do, and just see where your feelings point you. It can feel weird to be so formal about it, but if you're not used to doing it, then there's no shame in retraining yourself.” IfsFeelsFeelingsUsedAnswersShameNotionFormal Author:Carolyn Hax