“ZANY, n. A popular character in old Italian plays, who imitated with ludicrous incompetence the _buffone_, or clown, and was therefore the ape of an ape; for the clown himself imitated the serious characters of the play. The zany was progenitor to the specialist in humor, as we to-day have the unhappiness to know him. In the zany we see an example of creation; in the humorist, of transmission. Another excellent specimen of the modern zany is the curate, who apes the rector, who apes the bishop, who apes the archbishop, who apes the devil.” KnowsPlayCharacterModernExampleCreationSeriousDevilExcellentUnhappinessItalianClownApesBishopsIncompetenceSpecialistsHumoristsTransmission Book:The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World Source: The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World
“The farmer and the farm, like "the environment," are looked upon, for example, as means to offset trade deficits. The farm is a place where we can externalize costs. The cost of pesticides to the farmer and the cost of the pesticides to the soil and groundwater are regarded similarly by the public: "a serious problem that something ought to be done about." But the problem is more fundamental than this glib statement would indicate, for soil pollution is an expense of production. So are pesticides and nitrates in our farm wells. So is the loss of farmers from the land.” WellsMeanDoneProblemLossEnvironmentLandExampleSeriousOughtCostFundamentalsTradeProductionsStatementsSoilExpensesFarmsFarmersPollutionDeficitPesticidesGroundwater Author:Wes Jackson
“Maybe I don't have the same sense of humor. Maybe people aren't comfortable gauging a painting that way. They think that if it's a painting then it must be serious. I think Picasso can be hilarious, to name one example.” PeopleIfsThinkingWayNamesExamplePaintingSeriousComfortableSense Of Humor Author:Joe Bradley
“Sometimes there was a serious article on a hot topic, and I especially remember one by a bishop headed "Is Nudity Salacious?" The bishop thought it need not be, if encountered in the proper spirit, but he gave a lot of enlightening examples of conditions under which it might be, in his word, "inflammatory." There wasn't much nudity in our neck of the woods, and I enjoyed that article tremendously.” IfsNeedsSometimesMightRememberSpiritConditionsExampleSeriousHotWoodsEnjoyedNecksArticlesTopicsEnlighteningBishopsNudityHot Topic Book:The Merry Heart: Reflections on Reading, Writing, and the World of Books Source: The Merry Heart: Reflections on Reading, Writing, and the World of Books
“Like all twenty-one-year-old poets, I thought I would be dead by thirty, and Sylvia Plath had not set a helpful example. For a while there, you were made to feel that, if a poet and female, you could not really be serious about it unless you'd made at least one suicide attempt. So I felt I was running out of time.” IfsFeelsYearsMadeWould BeRunningFeltExampleSeriousPoetFemaleTwentiesSuicideThirtyHelpfulTwenty OneRunning Out Of TimePlath Author:Margaret Atwood
“The basic question 'will I obey Christ 's teaching?' is rarely taken as a serious issue. For example, to take one of Jesus' commands, that is relevant to contemporary life, I don't know of any church that actually teaches a church how to bless people who curse them, yet this is a clear command.” PeopleKnowsJesusChristChurchTeachIssuesTakenClearTeachingExampleSeriousContemporaryCommandCurseBlessRelevantSerious IssuesContemporary Life Author:Dallas Willard
“We always say we are equal in front of death, but when you are rich, for example, and you have everybody taking care of you, I think that you suffer much less. It must be much more painful to die when you are poor than when you are rich. But when your heart is broken, you can be rich, poor, whatever - a broken heart, we are all equal in front of it. And I think there is no subject more serious.” ThinkingHeartCareSufferingDiesPoorRichSubjectsFrontsExampleSeriousBrokenEqualPainfulRich Poor Author:Marjane Satrapi
“For example, I'm terribly proud. I'm as mistrustful and as sensitive as a hunchback or a dwarf; but, in truth, I've experienced some moments when if someone had slapped my face, I might even have been grateful for it. I'm being serious. I probably would have been able to derive a peculiar sort of pleasure from it-the pleasure of despair, naturally, but the most intense pleasures occur in despair, especially when you're very acutely aware of the hopelessness of your own predicament.” IfsHas BeensMomentsMightAbleFacesPleasureExampleSeriousProudDespairGratefulIntenseSensitivePeculiarHopelessnessDwarfsDwarvesPredicaments Author:Fyodor Dostoevsky
“To meet the serious issues facing us in our respective communities today, we must be examples of virtue and righteousness ourselves and choose today to take our stand on the moral issues which threaten us.” TodayCommunityMoralVirtueIssuesExampleSeriousRighteousnessMoral IssuesSerious Issues Author:Nathan Eldon Tanner
“I don't think that the big crunch should be seen as a menace, but rather as an opportunity. It's one of these times in -history - and we have plenty of examples from the past - where it's possible to really make a difference. And if art is serious about claiming a central role in today's society and culture, this is the best chance it's had in ages.” IfsThinkingShouldArtBigsAgeTodayPastCultureOpportunityDifferencesChanceRolesExampleSeriousArt IsPlentyMaking A DifferenceMenaceCrunchSociety And CultureToday's Society Author:Maurizio Cattelan
“There clearly is a serious race problem in the country. Just take a look at what's happening to African American communities. For example wealth, wealth in African American communities is almost zero. The history is striking.” LooksCountryProblemCommunityWealthRaceExampleSeriousHappeningsAfrican AmericanZeroAlmost Zero Author:Noam Chomsky
“Some have become more critical than others; for example, the submarines. And that's the Ohio Class submarine that needs to be modernized. The air component also needs to be modernized. The B-52, as someone earlier pointed out, is an outdated model that was flown by the grandparents of people that are flying it now. And we need a serious modernization program as well on our silo-launched missiles. All three are critical for the defense of the country.” PeopleNeedsWellsCountryThreeClassAirExampleSeriousModelsProgramCriticalDefenseFlyingGrandparentComponentsMissilesOhioOutdatedSubmarinesModernization Author:Marco Rubio
“You run an ad claiming that [Mitt] Romney is an absolute unfeeling, mean-spirited animal hater because in the example they gave he put his dog on the roof of the station wagon during the family vacation. Why does it work? Why did it stick?And there is an answer.When they [Democrates] ran the ads about guy's wife dying with cancer...? Remember this? This was a serious series of ads, and it was deadly effective.” MeanDoeRunningRememberGuyAnswersAnimalWifeDyingDogExampleSeriousAbsolutesSticksSeriesCancerRanStationsAdsVacationRoofRomneySpiritedWagonsUnfeelingMean SpiritedFamily Vacation Author:Rush Limbaugh
“I looked, for example, to certain types of literature to which I would like to refer, like The Peregrine by J. A. Baker, and I mention a book, "read this, read it, read it if you are serious of being in any type of art or into filmmaking," or films that I should quote as examples.” IfsShouldArtBookFilmCertainLiteratureExampleSeriousTypeFilmmakingBakers Author:Werner Herzog
“Nobody's ever gonna hold [ Lena Dunham] accountable. She's a liberal and she's a woman and so she's doubly indemnified against any serious analysis of what the hell she says or thinks. It's a clear example of the double standard out there.” ThinkingHellClearExampleSeriousStandardsAnalysisDouble Standard Author:Rush Limbaugh
“There are abusive practices that have been used in connection with various mental attitudes or feelings. Over-medication in respect to depression is an example that comes to mind. The aversive therapies that have been used in connection with same-sex attraction have contained some serious abuses that have been recognized over time within the professions.” MindHas BeensFeelingsUsedSexAttitudePracticeExampleSeriousConnectionsAbuseVariousAttractionProfessionTherapyMedicationAbusiveMental Attitude Author:Dallin H. Oaks
“Right at the beginning of all of this [Ukraine to join NATO], serious senior statesmen, people like [George] Kennan for example and others warned that the expansion of NATO to the east is going to cause a disaster. I mean, it's like having the Warsaw Pact on the Mexican border. It's inconceivable. And others, senior people warned about this, but policymakers didn't care. Just go ahead.” PeopleMeanCareCausesExampleSeriousEastDisasterBordersExpansionSeniorMexicanUkraineStatesmenNatoPactWarsawMexican BorderWarsaw Pact Author:Noam Chomsky
“How do we explain for example the Ebola epidemic in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea Conakry? Those very powers that swindled and occupied them, in the face of the serious situation of social emergency, have not even had the capacity to send doctors there. In some cases they have sent in militaries instead because that is what they are compelled to do. They have had to send military to do it because they do not even have any doctors with the willingness to risk their lives in order to help those people that are precisely paying for the consequences of years of colonization.” PeopleYearsHelpingFacesOrderSocialSituationCasesRiskMilitaryExampleSeriousConsequenceCapacityDoctorsWillingnessCompelledEmergenciesEpidemicsColonizationGuineaSierraEbolaSierra Leone Author:Alejandro Castro Espin