“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
“All serious art, music, literature is a critical act. It is so, firstly, in the sense of Matthew Arnold's phrase: "a criticism of life." Be it realistic, fantastic, Utopian or satiric, the construct of the artist is a counter-statement to the world.” WorldArtLife IsArtistLiteratureSeriousCriticismCriticalStatementsFantasticPhrasesRealisticConstructsUtopianMatthewArt Music Book:Real Presences: Is There Anything in What We Say? Source: Real Presences: Is There Anything in What We Say?
“At any innocent tea-table we may easily hear a man say, "Life is not worth living." We regard it as we regard the statement that it is a fine day; nobody thinks that it can possibly have any serious effect on the man or on the world. And yet if that utterance were really believed, the world would stand on its head.” IfsThinkingMenWorldMayLife IsEffectsHe ManSeriousFineRegardTablesStatementsInnocentTeaWorth LivingUtteranceLife Is Not Worth LivingFine Day Book:The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton Source: The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton
“It was never a marketing tool. People say that, but I dress this way for the same reasons I did when I first started doing it. It still comes from a serious place inside of me. I get up in the morning, and I think I just look better a certain way I do my makeup. I want to shine, I want to glitter. I'm not getting up thinking, "Oh, this'll get 'em." And I'm not doing it to make a statement. I'm just doing it to look like Dolly - the Dolly that I know and the Dolly that you know.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWayWantFirstsLooksStillsReasonCertainMorningSeriousToolsDressesShiningMarketingStatementsGet UpEmsMakeupGlitter Author:Dolly Parton
“Even if that statement was ambiguous, we kind of wanted to cause a stir. We thought that by having the name "Cabaret Voltaire", that with it came a certain responsibility. It wasn't meant to be purely entertainment; it was meant to be something a little bit more serious - and to provoke people - wrapped within an outer wrapping of entertainment.” PeopleIfsKindLittlesWantedCertainNamesCausesBitsResponsibilitySeriousLittle BitEntertainmentStatementsMeant To BeProvokingAmbiguousWere Meant To BeWrappingCabaret Author:Stephen Mallinder
“Some months after [Keith Alexander] made that statement [Edward Snowden cause grave and irrevocable harm to the nation], the new director of the NSA, Michael Rogers, said that, in fact, he doesn't see the sky falling. It's not so serious after all.” MadeSaidFactsFallNationsCausesSkySeriousMonthsDirectorsHarmGravesStatementsRogerNsaKeithIrrevocableSnowden Author:Edward Snowden
“Some of [Donald Trump] comments can be interpreted as potentially reducing the threat of nuclear war. The major threat right now is right on the Russian border. Notice, not the Mexican border, the Russian border. And it's serious. He has made various statements moving towards reducing the tensions, accommodating Russian concerns and so on.” MadeWarMovingSeriousTrumpRight NowMajorsConcernThreatVariousNuclearStatementsBordersTensionCommentMexicanReducingNuclear WarMexican Border Author:Noam Chomsky
“Donald Trump basically said: One state, two states, do whatever you like. I do not think this was a serious statement of American policy. This was him shrugging his shoulders and saying: Who cares about it. I think he doesn't even have the faintest idea of what he wants to do in the Middle East.” ThinkingWantSaidTwoIdeasStatesCareMiddlePolicySeriousTrumpEastShouldersStatementsMiddle EastWho Cares Author:Amos Oz