“I have often been amused by our vulgar tendency to take complex issues, with solutions at neither extreme of a continuum of possibilities, and break them into dichotomies, assigning one group to one pole and the other to an opposite end, with no acknowledgment of subtleties and intermediate positions and nearly always with moral opprobrium attached to opponents.” EndsMoralBreakIssuesGroupsPossibilityPositionSolutionsOppositesComplexesExtremesTendenciesOpponentsVulgarSubtletyAmusedContinuumDichotomyAcknowledgment Book:The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History Source: The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History
“American cities are kind of difficult contexts to work in. They are politically complex. There are a lot of different interest groups. It takes immense political skill to get anything done at all.” KindDifferentDonePoliticalDifficultInterestCitiesGroupsSkillsComplexesImmenseInterest GroupsAmerican Cities Author:William J. Mitchell
“Hydrodynamics procreated complex analysis, partial differential equations, Lie groups and algebra theory, cohomology theory and scientific computing.” LyingGroupsTheoryMathematicsComplexesAnalysisEquationsAlgebraComputingDifferential Equations Author:Vladimir Arnold
“Girls . . . were allowed to play in the house . . . and boys were sent outdoors. . . . Boys ran around in the yard with toy guns going kksshh-kksshh, fighting wars for made-up reasons and arguing about who was dead, while girls stayed inside and played with dolls, creating complex family groups and learning how to solve problems through negotiation and roleplaying. Which gender is better equipped, on the whole, to live an adult life, would you guess?” MadeWarReasonPlayWholeProblemGirlFightingHouseBoysGroupsCreatingGunAdultsComplexesGenderSolveArguingRanToysYardsNegotiationDollsToy Guns Author:Garrison Keillor
“A new world of complex relationships and feelings opens up when the peer group takes its place alongside the family as the emotional focus of the child's life. Early peer relationships contribute significantly to the child's ability to participate in a group (and in that sense, society), deal with competition and disappointment, enjoy the intimacy of friendships, and intuitively understand social relationships as they play out at school, in the neighborhood, and later in the workplace and adult family.” WorldChildrenPlayFeelingsSchoolSocialEnjoyAbilityDealsFocusGroupsEmotionalAdultsCompetitionComplexesDisappointmentIntimacyNeighborhoodNew WorldPeersWorkplaceSocial RelationshipsPeer GroupComplex Relationships Author:Stanley Greenspan
“Without a complex knowledge of one's place and without the faithfulness to one's place on which such knowledge depends, it is inevitable that the place will be used carelessly, and eventually destroyed. Without such knowledge and faithfulness, moreover, the culture of a country will be superficial and decorative, functional only insofar as it may be a symbol of prestige, the affectation of an elite or "in" group.” MayCountryUsedCultureGroupsDependsComplexesDestroyedSymbolsInevitableElitesSuperficialFaithfulnessPrestige Book:A Continuous Harmony: Essays Cultural and Agricultural Source: A Continuous Harmony: Essays Cultural and Agricultural
“You never want to be the worst bowler of the group-because then everyone treats you like you have cancer. "You can do it! We're praying for you." The advice starts. "Use a heavier ball." "Keep your arm straight." "You should get a vasectomy." If you're really bad at bowling like me, they'll ask if want the bumpers up. Not that bowling is that complex anyway. "You want the bumpers? We can get rid of the pins. Why don't you take this coloring book and sit in the corner?"” IfsWantShouldBookUseFunnyAsksCan DoComedyGroupsWorstAdviceLike YouArmsPrayingTreatsBallsComplexesCancerCornersLike MeYou Can Do ItPinsBowlingBumperBowlersPraying For YouVasectomy Author:Jim Gaffigan
“The Sunnis continue to see themselves, possibly for nostalgic reasons, as the most influential group and want a stronger central government - quite unlike minorities in other countries. The circumstances here are far more complex than many people in Washington imagine.” PeopleWantCountryReasonGovernmentImagineGroupsCircumstancesStrongerComplexesMinoritiesOther CountriesInfluentialNostalgicCentral Government Author:Zalmay Khalilzad