“The idea of some kind of objectively constant, universal literary value is seductive. It feels real. It feels like a stone cold fact that In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust, is better than A Shore Thing, by Snooki. And it may be; Snooki definitely has more one-star reviews on Amazon. But if literary value is real, no one seems to be able to locate it or define it very well. We're increasingly adrift in a grey void of aesthetic relativism.” IfsFeelsWellsKindMayIdeasRealFactsSeemsAbleValuesLostStarsColdStonesUniversalConstantReviewsShoreVoidAestheticGreyAmazonSeductiveRelativismProustLost TimeAdriftStone ColdSnooki Author:Lev Grossman
“I've interviewed multiple people who know bin Laden... who tend to have a universal picture of what he's like, which is: modest, retiring, unassuming, kind of thoughtful - lots of things that don't fit with a mass murderer, which he is as well.” PeopleKnowsWellsKindFitMassUniversalThoughtfulRetiringMultipleModestMurdererBin LadenUnassuming Author:Peter Bergen
“As an artist you're looking for universal triggers. You want it both ways. You want it to have an immediate impact, and you want it to have deep meanings as well. I'm striving for both. But I hate it when people write things that sound like they've swallowed a f... dictionary.” PeopleWayWantWritingWellsArtistHateSoundUniversalI HateImpactCriticsStriveTriggersDictionaryDeep Meaning Author:Damien Hirst
“The idea that a good God would send people to a burning hell is utterly damnable to me. I don't want to have anything to do with such a God. But while I cannot conceive of such a God, I do recognize the existence of a great universal power - a power which we cannot even begin to comprehend and might as well not attempt to. It may be a conscious mind, or it may not. I don't know. As a scientist I should like to know, but as a man, I am not so vitally concerned.” PeopleKnowsMenWantShouldMindWellsMayIdeasMightFearExistenceHellAtheismConsciousConcernedScientistUniversalRageBurningGood GodConscious Mind Author:Luther Burbank