“Maybe, generations ago, young people rebelled out of some clear motive, but now, we know we're rebelling. Between teen movies and sex-ed textbooks we're so ready for our rebellious phase we can't help but feel it's safe, contained. It will turn out all right, despite the risk, snug in the shell of rebellion narrative. Rebellion narrative, does that make sense? It was appropriate to do, so we did it.” PeopleKnowsFeelsDoeHelpingYoungTurnsSexClearRiskGenerationsReadySafeDespiteNarrativeMake SenseMotiveAppropriateRebellionPhasesShellsRebelliousTextbooks Author:Daniel Handler
“Speakers who have grown up in the American community unconsciously know its rules about taking turns in conversations-in the same way that they know the rules of grammar and the rules about appropriate speech in various situations.” KnowsWayTurnsCommunitySituationConversationSpeechVariousAppropriateSpeakersGrammar Book:Word Play: What Happens When People Talk Source: Word Play: What Happens When People Talk
“We, all of us in the First World, have participated in something of a binge, a half century of unbelievable prosperity and ease. We may have had some intuition that it was a binge and the earth couldn't support it, but aside from the easy things (biodegradable detergent, slightly smaller cars) we didn't do much. We didn't turn our lives around to prevent it. Our sadness is almost an aesthetic response - appropriate because we have marred a great, mad, profligate work of art, taken a hammer to the most perfectly proportioned of sculptures.” WorldFirstsMayArtEarthTurnsEasyHalfSupportTakenOur LivesSadnessCenturyCarMadResponseProsperityIntuitionEaseAppropriateWorks Of ArtAestheticConsumerismUnbelievableSculptureHammersOverconsumptionEasy ThingsBingeBiodegradable Author:Bill McKibben
“The Romans had, like other Pagan nations, a nature festival, called by them Saturnalia, and the Northern peoples had Yule; both celebrated the turn of the year from the death of winter to the life of spring - the winter solstice. As this was an auspicious change the festival was a very joyous one... The giving of presents and the burning of candles characterized it. Among the Northern people the lighting of a huge log in the houses of the great and with appropriate ceremonies was a feature.” PeopleGivingYearsTurnsHouseNationsAtheismHugeSpringWinterBurningFeaturesAppropriateCandleCeremonyFestivalsJoyousLightingPaganSolsticeWinter SolsticeYule Author:Samuel L. Jackson
“However we select from nature a complex [of phenomena] using the criterion of simplicity, in no case will its theoretical treatment turn out to be forever appropriate (sufficient).... I do not doubt that the day will come when [general relativity], too, will have to yield to another one, for reasons which at present we do not yet surmise. I believe that this process of deepening theory has no limits.” BelieveReasonTurnsI BelieveProcessCasesForeverDoubtAtheismTheoryLimitsComplexesSimplicityPositive AtheismSufficientAppropriateTreatmentYieldTheoreticalCriteriaSelectRelativityGeneral Relativity Author:Albert Einstein