“This is a perfect example of the power and ridiculousness of a website like Wikipedia. I did give a slightly contentious graduation speech, where I decided not to be funny as my classmates had hoped, which was why I was chosen. I was not valedictorian, that's for sure. Instead, I talked about the failure to communicate between the administration and the teachers and students. That's what was contentious about it. At some point, somebody wrote about that incident on my Wikipedia page. And then somebody added the bit about me exposing my genitals to the crowd.” GivingBitsPerfectTeacherExampleStudentsSpeechPagesDecidedCrowdsCommunicateChosenAdministrationIncidentsWebsiteExposingWikipediaTeacher And StudentClassmatesContentiousGraduation SpeechValedictorians Author:Nick Kroll
“No one has ever used historical examples, near or remote, with the detail, precision, and directness to be found in every page of Shaw.” UsedFoundExamplePagesHistoricalDetailsPrecision Author:Jacques Barzun
“Recently while browsing in a secondhand bookstore I bought a paperback copy of The Intellectual and the City, but I was unable to read it. When I got home I discovered that the original owner had highlighted the entire book - literally. Every line on every page had been drawn through with a bright green Magic Marker. It was a terrifying example of a mind that had lost all power of discrimination.” MindBookHomeLostLinesCitiesMagicExamplePagesIntellectualOriginalsGreenDiscriminationOwnersCopiesBookstoresMarkersBrowsing Book:Reflections In A Jaundiced Eye Source: Reflections In A Jaundiced Eye
“The degree to which the child-rearing professionals continue to be out of touch with reality is astounding. For example, a widely read manual on breast-feeding, devotes fewer than two pages to the working mother.” ChildrenTwoRealityMotherExampleDegreesPagesBreastsFewerFeedingManualsChild Rearing Author:Sylvia Ann Hewlett
“Reading aloud sounds like a good idea, but honestly, it doesn't work very well. Good dialogue in a book doesn't actually bear much resemblance to real-life dialogue. For example, if you've ever seen a word-for-word transcript of people talking, it doesn't read off the page very well. The trick is to make it *seem* like it's being spoken, not to make it speakable.” PeopleIfsWellsBookIdeasRealSeemsReadingSoundTalkingExampleBearsPagesHonestlyReal LifeTricksDialogueGood IdeasResemblancePeople TalkingReading Aloud Author:Patrick Rothfuss
“I think circumstance plays a big part in terms of what I do. For example, if I wasn't ever able to show in an art gallery I probably wouldn't really make very much sculpture. But I've had the opportunity to show in big spaces, so I want to fill up that space in the same way you might want to fill up a page.” IfsThinkingWayWantArtPlayShowsBigsMightAbleOpportunityTermSpaceExampleCircumstancesPagesSculptureGalleryArt Galleries Author:David Shrigley
“Forward steps are made by giving up old armor because words are built into you - in the soft typewriter of the womb you do not realize the word-armor you carry; for example, when you read this page your eyes move irresistibly from left to right following the words that you have been accustomed to.” GivingHas BeensMadeEyeMovingLeftRealizingStepsExampleGiving UpPagesBuiltFollowingAccustomedWombArmorTypewriters Author:William S. Burroughs
“The Navajo Generating Station in Page, for example, employs hundreds of people, mostly Native Americans, and provides nearly all of the power for the Central Arizona Project. That means our entire state has a big stake in the energy production and economic stability of these plants.” PeopleMeanStatesBigsEnergyEconomicExampleProjectsPagesPlantProductionsNativeStationsStabilityStakesNative AmericanArizonaEnergy ProductionEconomic Stability Author:Ann Kirkpatrick
“For example, the insurance industries and the big banks are absolutely euphoric now - on the business pages they don't even conceal it - because they've succeeded in coming out of the crisis even stronger than they were before, and in a better position to lay the basis for the next crisis. But they don't care, because they'll get bailed out again. That's class consciousness with a vengeance.” BigsCareNextConsciousnessClassExamplePositionIndustryPagesBasesStrongerCrisisLaysDon't CareComing OutVengeanceEuphoricClass Consciousness Author:Noam Chomsky
“Have you ever noticed that it takes a textbook dozens of pages to say what normal people can cover fast? Example: What was the full impact of World War II? Clear-cut teenage answer: we won.” PeopleWorldWarAnswersClearCuttingExampleNormalPagesImpactWar Of The WorldsWorld War IiDozenTeenageTextbooks Author:Joan Bauer