“The seriousness or otherwise of the subject matter is often irrelevent to the question of whether a book is any good. F Scott Fitzgerald wrote a great and beautiful novel which mainly involved shallow people going to parties in a rich guy's house. By contrast, all sorts of terrible books are published every month about men slaughtering people for no reason - a serious matter which, in itself, does not make the author worthy of serious consideration.” PeopleMenDoeBookMatterReasonBeautifulGuyHouseLanguagePartyNovelRichSubjectsSeriousMonthsInvolvedTerribleWorthyConsiderationNo ReasonContrastShallowSeriousnessSubject MatterScott Fitzgerald Author:Declan Lynch
“These poems possess intelligence, erudition, gravitas and urgency. Serious and moving in voice and ambition, this passionately lyrical and articulate work reminds me very much of the capacious, fierce and intelligent work of Adrienne Rich.” MovingVoiceRichSeriousAmbitionIntelligentFierceUrgencyLyricalMoving InEruditionGravitas Author:Tony Hoagland
“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
“If I buy a Fiat Uno, I'll read that, for a man like me, a Ferrari was more suitable. If instead I buy a Ferrari, they'll write that I should have kept my feet on the ground and bought a Fiat. If I smile, I'm not serious. If I don't smile, I'm a rich sulker that doesn't enjoy having the most beautiful job in the world.” IfsMenWorldShouldWritingJobsBeautifulEnjoyRichFeetSeriousShould HaveLike MeSuitableI SmileFerrariFeet On The Ground Author:Mario Balotelli
“Those who would administer [charity] wisely must, indeed, be wise, for one of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity. It were better for mankind that the millions of the rich were thrown into the sea than spent to encourage the slothful, the drunken, the unworthy. Of every thousand dollars spent in so-called charity today, it is probable that nine hundred and fifty dollars is unwisely spent - so spent, indeed, as to produce the very evils which it hopes to mitigate or cure.” TodayEvilRaceMillionsRichWiseSeaMankindProduceSeriousThousandHundredDollarsCharityObstaclesImprovementNineCuresFiftyThrownBeing WiseUnworthy Author:Andrew Carnegie
“Balochistan, and to some extent Sindh too, has a general feeling that they are not part of the decision-making process in Pakistan and are ruled by a Punjabi dictatorship. There is a lot of exploitation of the rich resources [in Balochistan] which the locals are not gaining from. As long as this goes on, it is going to keep providing grounds for serious uprisings and insurgencies.” LongFeelingsProcessDecisionRichSeriousGoes OnResourcesLocalsDecision MakingProvidingDictatorshipExploitationPakistanUprisingInsurgencyDecision Making ProcessPunjabis Author:Noam Chomsky
“Look at the ozone story. As long as it was the southern hemisphere that was being threatened, there was very little talk about it. When it was discovered in the north, very quickly actions were taken to do something about it. Right now there's discussion of putting serious effort into developing a malaria vaccine, because global warming might extend malaria to the rich countries, so something should be done about it.” ShouldLooksLittlesLongCountryDoneStoriesMightActionEffortRichTakenSeriousRight NowDevelopingDiscussionGlobal WarmingSouthernThreatenedVaccinesHemisphereMalariaRich CountriesOzone Author:Noam Chomsky
“The writers who have been serious about recreating American literature have always been far and few between. What we do have at the end of the 20th century that we didn't have at the beginning, at that time of the Lost Generation of rich white boys, is a mixture. We're now getting gay writers of color, let's say, and women of color being published. This is unprecedented.” LiteratureBoysRichSeriousGay20th CenturyAmerican Literature Author:Ana Castillo
“I can't see the Democrats working with Donald Trump on tax reform unless the rich get soaked. The thing about this that should be worrisome is that if this alliance happens, if they're not bluffing, if they're serious, and if my scenario gets close, it's not gonna be the Democrats adopting Trump's agenda. It's gonna be the other way around.” RichSeriousTaxesDemocrat Author:Rush Limbaugh