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A Man Is Like A Phonograph With Half-a-dozen Records. You Soon Get Tired Of Them All; And Yet You Have To Sit At Table Whilst He Reels Them Off To Every New Visitor.
-George Bernard Shaw
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A Man Is Like

George Bernard Shaw
A Man Is Like A Phonograph With Half-a-dozen Records. You Soon Get Tired Of Them All; And Yet You Have To Sit At Table Whilst He Reels Them Off To Every New Visitor.
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Topic
Tired
Men
Records
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Put An Irishman On The Spit And You Can Always Get Another Irishman To Turn Him.
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A Nap, My Friend, Is A Brief Period Of Sleep Which Overtakes Superannuated Persons When They Endeavor To Entertain Unwelcome Visitors Or To Listen To Scientific Lectures.
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It Is The Highest Creatures Who Take The Longest To Mature, And Are The Most Helpless During Their Immaturity.
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The Best Bought-up Children Are Those Who Have Seen Thier Parents As They Are. Hypocrisy Is Not The First Duty Of A Parent.
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It Is The End Of Happiness And The Beginning Of Peace.
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For Four Wicked Centuries The World Has Dreamed This Foolish Dream Of Efficiency; And The End Is Not Yet. But The End Will Come.
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Tradition Will Accustom People To Any Atrocity
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Atrocities Are Not Less Atrocities When They Occur In Laboratories And Are Called Medical Research.
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Marriage Is The Most Licentious Of Human Institutions.
Institutions
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The Liar's Punishment Is Not In The Least That He Is Not Believed, But That He Cannot Believe Anyone Else.
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If I Refuse To Allow My Leg To Be Amputated, Its Mortification And My Death May Prove That I Was Wrong; But If I Let The Leg Go, Nobody Can Ever Prove That It Would Not Have Mortified Had I Been Obstinate. Operation Is Therefore The Safe Side For The Surgeon As Well As The Lucrative Side.
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If Parents Would Only Realize How They Bore Their Children.
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Perhaps I Had Better Inform My Protestant Readers That The Famous Dogma Of Papal Infallibility Is By Far The Most Modest Pretension Of The Kind In Existence. Compared With Our Infallible Democracies, Our Infallible Medical Councils, Our Infallible Astronomers, Our Infallible Judges, And Our Infallible Parliaments, The Pope Is On His Knees In The Dust Confessing His Ignorance Before The Throne Of God, Asking Only That As To Certain Historical Matters On Which He Has Clearly More Sources Of Information Open To Him Than Anyone Else His Decision Shall Be Taken As Final.
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Don't Waste Time Collecting Other People's Autographs; Rather Devote It To Making Your Own Autograph Worth Collecting.
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Everyone Can See That The People Who Hunt Are The Right People And The People Who Don't Are The Wrong Ones.
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Every Drunken Skipper Trusts To Providence. But One Of The Ways Of Providence With Drunken Skippers Is To Run Them On The Rocks.
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The Love Of Economy Is The Root Of All Virtue.
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We Veneer Civilization By Doing Unkind Things In A Kind Way.
Civilization
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Beware Of The Man Who Does Not Return Your Blow: He Neither Forgives You Nor Allows You To Forgive Yourself.
Forgiveness
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Rebecca [west] Can Handle A Pen As Brilliantly As Ever I Could And Much More Savagely.
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We Are More Gullible And Superstitious Today Than We Were In The Middle Ages, And An Example Of Modern Credulity Is The Widespread Belief That The Earth Is Round. The Average Man Can Advance Not A Single Reason For Thinking That The Earth Is Round. He Merely Swallows This Theory Because There Is Something About It That Appeals To The Twentieth Century Mentality.
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I Am Justified. For I Chose Wisdom And The Knowledge Of Good And Evil ; And Now There Is No Evil; And Wisdom And Good Are One. It Is Enough.
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The Educated Man Is A Greater Nuisance Than The Uneducated One.
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Those Who Can’t Change Their Minds Can’t Change Anything.
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I Am Highly Susceptible To The Force Of All Truly Religious Music, Especially To The Music Of My Own Church, The Church Of Shelley, Michelangelo, And Beethoven.
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The Salvation Of The World Depends On The Men Who Will Not Take Evil Good-humouredly, And Whose Laughter Destroys The Fool Instead Of Encouraging Him.
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I Was Always Unlawful; I Broke The Law When I Was Born Because My Parents Weren't Married.
Law
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Married
Your Father Is A Fool Skin Deep; But You Are A Fool To Your Very Marrow.
Father
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The Only Time My Education Was Interrupted Was When I Was In School.
Funny
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It's Usually Pointed Out That Women Are Not Fit For Political Power, And Ought Not To Be Trusted With A Vote Because They Are Politically Ignorant, Socially Prejudiced, Narrow-minded, And Selfish. True Enough, But Precisely The Same Is True Of Men!
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Religion Is A Good Invention In Times Of Stress.
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Women Upset Everything. When You Let Them Into Your Life, You Find That The Woman Is Driving At One Thing And You're Driving At Another.
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I Hate The Poor And Look Forward Eagerly To Their Extermination.
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When Asked Which Dog Wins, He Reflected For A Moment And Replied, "the One I Feed The Most."
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Without Art, The Crudeness Of Reality Would Make The World Unbearable.
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Don't Order Any Black Things. Rejoice In His Memory; And Be Radiant: Leave Grief To The Children. Wear Violet And Purple. Be Patient With The Poor People Who Will Snivel: They Don't Know; And They Think They Will Live For Ever, Which Makes Death A Division Instead Of A Bond.
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Though Justice Be Thy Plea, Consider This: That In The Course Of Justice None Of Us Should See Salvation. We Do Pray For Mercy, And That Same Prayer Doth Teach Us All To Render The Deeds Of Mercy.
Prayer
Mercy Of God
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Man Is The Only Animals Of Which I Am Thoroughly And Cravenly Afraid.
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Worst Of All, There Is No Sign Of Any Relaxation Of Antisemitism. Logically It Has Nothing To Do With Fascism. But The Human Raceis Imitative Rather Than Logical; And As Fascism Spreads Antisemitism Spreads.
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My Rank Is The Highest Known In Switzerland: I'm A Free Citizen.
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Man Can Climb To The Highest Summits, But He Cannot Dwell There Long.
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I Shall Always Be A Flower Girl To Professor Higgins, Because He Always Treats Me As A Flower Girl, And Always Will; But I Know I Can Be A Lady To You, Because You Always Treat Me As A Lady, And Always Will.
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When You Read A Biography Remember That The Truth Is Never Fit For Publication.
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Everything Happens To Everybody Sooner Or Later If There Is Time Enough.
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Deep Knowledge Is Not Knowledge Of The Thing Itself, But Knowledge Of A Thing Like The Thing. Then, You Gain Not One Knowledge, But Two Knowledges. Of The Thing. And Of The Original Thing With Is Like The Thing. Which Is The Barbarism Of The Privileged Class.
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Two
Gains
Activity Is The Only Road To Knowledge.
Wise
Knowledge
Science
I Choose Not To Make A Graveyard Of My Body For The Rotting Corpses Of Dead Animals.
Animal
Vegetarianism
Rotting
Those Who Talk Most About The Blessings Of Marriage And The Constancy Of Its Vows Are The Very People Who Declare That If The Chain Were Broken And The Prisoners Left Free To Choose, The Whole Social Fabric Would Fly Asunder. You Cannot Have The Argument Both Ways. If The Prisoner Is Happy, Why Lock Him In? If He Is Not, Why Pretend That He Is?
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Blessing
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General Consultant To Mankind.
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Go On Writing Plays, My Boy, One Of These Days One Of These London Producers Will Go Into His Office And Say To His Secretary, "is There A Play From Shaw This Morning?" And When She Says, "no," He Will Say, "well, Then We'll Have To Start On The Rubbish." And That's Your Chance, My Boy.
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Use Your Health, Even To The Point Of Wearing It Out. That Is What It Is For. Spend All You Have Before You Die; Do Not Outlive Yourself.
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You Are Going To Let The Fear Of Poverty Govern You Life And Your Reward Will Be That You Will Eat, But You Will Not Live.
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I Find That Socialism Is Often Misunderstood By Its Least Intelligent Supporters And Opponents To Mean Simply Unrestrained Indulgence Of Our Natural Propensity To Heave Bricks At Respectable Persons.
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I Object To Publishers: The One Service They Have Done Me Is To Teach Me To Do Without Them. They Combine Commercial Rascality With Artistic Touchiness And Pettishness, Without Being Either Good Business Men Or Fine Judges Of Literature.
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Doing What Needs To Be Done May Not Make You Happy, But It Will Make You Great.
Greatness
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And So, To The End Of History, Murder Shall Breed Murder, Always In The Name Of Right And Honor And Peace, Until The Gods Are Tired Of Blood And Create A Race That Can Understand.
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Peace
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No Community Has Ever Yet Passed Beyond The Initial Phases In Which Its Pugnacity And Fanaticism Enabled It To Found A Nation, And Its Cupidity To Establish And Develop A Commercial Civilization.
Civilization
Community
Phases
A Man's Interest In The World Is Only An Overflow From His Interest In Himself.
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Jesus Remains Unshaken As The Practical Man; And We Stand Exposed As The Fools, The Blunderers, The Unpractical Visionaries.
Jesus
Men
Fool
Baseball Has The Great Advantage Over Cricket Of Being Sooner Ended.
Baseball
Dignity
Advantage
Virtue Consists, Not In Abstaining From Vice, But In Not Desiring It.
Life
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Virtue
There Is In Man A Specific Lust For Cruelty Which Infects Even His Passion Of Pity And Makes It Savage.
Passion
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Lust
The Man Who Has Never Made A Mistake Will Never Make Anything Else.
Mistake
Men
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Money Is The Most Important Thing In The World. It Represents Health, Strength, Honor, Generosity, And Beauty As Conspicuously As The Want Of It Represents Illness, Weakness, Disgrace, Meanness, And Ugliness.
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Beauty
Christmas Is Forced Upon A Reluctant And Disgusted Nation By The Shopkeepers And The Press; On Its Own Merits It Would Wither And Shrivel In The Fiery Breath Of Universal Hatred.
Christmas
Hatred
Sausage
Only In Books Has Mankind Known Perfect Truth, Love And Beauty.
Book
Perfect
Mankind
Greatness Is One Of The Sensations Of Littleness
Greatness
Sensations
Ye Poor Posterity, Think Not That Ye Are The First. Other Fools Before Ye Have Seen The Sun Rise And Set, And The Moon Change Her Shape And Her Hour. As They Were So Ye Are; And Yet Not So Great; For The Pyramids My People Built Stand To This Day; Whilst The Dustheaps On Which Ye Slave, And Which Ye Call Empires, Scatter In The Wind Even As Ye Pile Your Dead Sons' Bodies On Them To Make Yet More Dust.
Son
Moon
Thinking
The Danger Of Crippling Thought, The Danger Of Obstructing The Formation Of The Public Mind By Specially Suppressing ... Representations Is Far Greater Than Any Real Danger That There Is From Such Representations.
Real
Mind
Danger
You Can Feel Nothing But A Torment, And Believe Nothing But A Lie. You Will Not Raise Your Head To Look At All The Miracles Of Life That Surround You; But You Will Run Ten Miles To See A Fight Or A Death.
Running
Lying
Believe
I Loathe The Mess Of Mean Superstitions And Misunderstood Prophecies Which Is Still Rammed Down The Throats Of Children Under The Name Of Christianity.
Religious
Children
Mean
Patriotism Is A Pernicious, Psychopathic Form Of Idiocy.
Fear
Patriotic
Patriotism
There Is A Terrible Truthfulness About Photography That Sometimes Makes A Thing Look Ridiculous.
Photography
Looks
Ridiculous
The 100% American Is 99% Idiot.
Sarcastic
Sarcasm
Idiot
Pasteboard Pies And Paper Flowers Are Being Banished From The Stage By The Growth Of That Power Of Accurate Observation Which Is Commonly Called Cynicism By Those Who Have Not Got It...
Power
Cynical
Belief
Vivisection Is A Social Evil Because If It Advances Human Knowledge, It Does So At The Expense Of Human Character.
Character
Animal
Evil
The Conversion Of Paul Was No Conversion At All; It Was Paul Who Converted The Religion That Has Raised One Man Above Sin And Death.
Men
Sin
Conversation
You Have No Right To Say That I Am Not Sincere. I Have Found A Happiness In Art That Real Life Has Never Given Me. I Am Intensely In Earnest About Art. There Is Is A Magic And Mystery In Art That You Know Nothing Of.
Art
Real
Magic
Don't Think You Can Frighten Me By Telling Me That I Am Alone. France Is Alone. God Is Alone. And The Loneliness Of God Is His Strength.
Loneliness
Thinking
France
A Miracle, My Friend, Is An Event Which Creates Faith.
Miracle
Events
My Friends
Make Me A Beautiful Word For Doing Things Tomorrow; For That Surely Is A Great And Blessed Invention.
Beautiful
Blessed
Tomorrow
Better See Rightly On A Pound A Week Than Squint On A Million.
Money
Pounds
Week
All Industries Are Brought Under The Control Of Such People [film Producers] By Capitalism. If The Capitalists Let Themselves Be Seduced From Their Pursuit Of Profits To The Enchantments Of Art, They Would Be Bankrupt Before They Knew Where They Were. You Cannot Combine The Pursuit Of Money With The Pursuit Of Art.
Movie
Art
People
I Sold Flowers. I Didn't Sell Myself. Now You've Made A Lady Of Me I'm Not Fit To Sell Anything Else.
Flower
Pygmalion
Fit
I Can Forgive Alfred Nobel For Having Invented Dynamite, But Only A Fiend In Human Form Could Have Invented The Nobel Prize.
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Forgiving
Form
People Expect Too Much Of One Year And Too Little Of Ten.
Years
People
Littles
All Progress Means War With Society.
War
Mean
Progress Of Society
Imagination Is The Beginning Of Creation. You Imagine What You Desire, You Will What You Imagine And At Last You Create What You Will.
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Spiritual
Art
Our Necessities Are Few, But Our Wants Are Endless.
Desire
Want
Economics
Girls, Like Men, Want To Be Petted, Pitied, And Made Much Of, When They Are Diffident, In Low Spirits, Or In Unrequited Love. These Are Services Which The Weak Cannot Render To The Strong And Which The Strong Will Not Render To The Weak, Except When There Is Also A Difference Of Sex.
Girl
Strong
Sex
What We Are Confronted With Now Is A Growing Perception That If We Desire A Certain Type Of Civilization And Culture We Must Exterminate The Sort Of People Who Do Not Fit Into It.
Civilization
People
Perception
We're Human Beings We Are - All Of Us - And That's What People Are Liable To Forget. Human Beings Don't Like Peace And Goodwill And Everybody Loving Everybody Else. However Much They May Think They Do, They Don't Really Because They're Not Made Like That. Human Beings Love Eating And Drinking And Loving And Hating. They Also Like Showing Off, Grabbing All They Can, Fighting For Their Rights And Bossing Anybody Who'll Give Them Half A Chance.
Hate
Drinking
Fighting
While We Ourselves Are The Living Graves Of Murdered Animals, How Can We Expect Any Ideal Living Conditions On This Earth?
Life
Animal
Earth
Censorship Ends In Logical Completeness When Nobody Is Allowed To Read Any Books Except The Books That Nobody Can Read.
Book
Censorship
Logical
What Is Virtue But The Trade Unionism Of The Married?
Married
Virtue
Trade
Of The Two Lots, The Woman's Lot Of Perpetual Motherhood, And The Man's Of Perpetual Babyhood, I Prefer The Man's.
Inspirational
Women
Motherhood
I'm Sick Of All The Reasonable People: They See All The Reasons For Doing Nothing
People
Sick
Doing Nothing
We Must Not Stay As We Are, Doing Always What Was Done Last Time, Or We Shall Stick In The Mud. Yet Neither Must We Undertake A New World As Catastrophic Utopians, And Wreck Our Civilization In Our Hurry To Mend It.
Civilization
Done
World
A Married Man Forms Married Habits And Becomes Dependent On Marriage Just As A Sailor Becomes Dependent On The Sea.
Men
Sea
Sailor
A Soldier Is An Anachronism Of Which We Must Get Rid.
Soldier
Anachronism
To Make Democracy Work, You Need An Aristocratic Democracy. To Make Aristocracy Work, You Need A Democratic Aristocracy.
Democracy
Aristocracy
Needs
Life Is No Brief Candle To Me. It Is A Sort Of Splendid Torch Which I Have Got A Hold Of For The Moment, And I Want To Make It Burn As Brightly As Possible Before Handing It On To Future Generations.
Inspirational
Life
Happy
Our Ideals, Like The Gods Of Old, Are Constantly Demanding Human Sacrifices.
Sacrifice
Humans
Ideals
The Degree Of Tolerance Attainable At Any Moment Depends On The Strain Under Which Society Is Maintaining Its Cohesion.
Tolerance
Degrees
Maintaining
The Moment We Face It Frankly We Are Driven To The Conclusion That The Community Has A Right To Put A Price On The Right To Live In It ... If People Are Fit To Live, Let Them Live Under Decent Human Conditions. If They Are Not Fit To Live, Kill Them In A Decent Human Way. Is It Any Wonder That Some Of Us Are Driven To Prescribe The Lethal Chamber As The Solution For The Hard Cases Which Are At Present Made The Excuse For Dragging All The Other Cases Down To Their Level, And The Only Solution That Will Create A Sense Of Full Social Responsibility In Modern Populations?
Responsibility
Eugenics
People
Our First Duty, To Which Every Other Consideration Should Be Sacrificed, Is Not To Be Poor.
Firsts
Wealth
Poor
The Heretic Is Always Better Dead. And Mortal Eyes Cannot Distinguish The Saint From The Heretic.
Eye
Saint
Heretic
The Englishmen Is At His Best On The Links And At His Worst In The Cabinet.
Links
Cabinets
Worst
Build A System That Even A Fool Can Use, And Only A Fool Will Want To Use It.
Funny
Humor
Use It Or Lose It
Now That We Have Learned To Fly The Air Like Birds, Swim Under Water Like Fish, We Lack One Thing - To Learn To Live On Earth As Human Beings.
Air
Water
Bird
Islam Is The Best Religion And Muslims Are The Worst Followers
Islam
Followers
Worst
Except During The Nine Months Before He Draws His First Breath, No Man Manages His Affairs As Well As A Tree Does.
Trust
Sarcastic
Men
In Order To Fully Realize How Bad A Popular Play Can Be, It Is Necessary To See It Twice.
Sarcastic
Sarcasm
Order
The Thought Of Two Thousand People Crunching Celery At The Same Time Horrified Me.
Food
Vegetarianism
Two
Let Not The Right Side Of Your Brain Know What The Left Side Doeth.
Brain
Left Hand
Lefties
The British Are Apt To Make Merits Of Their Stupidities, And To Represent Their Various Incapacities As Points Of Good Breeding.
Funny
Stupidity
Merit
Somemenare Bornkings; And Someare Bornstatesmen. The Two Are Seldom The Same.
Two
I Hope You Have Lost Your Good Looks, For While They Last Any Fool Can Adore You, And The Adoration Of Fools Is Bad For The Soul.
Soul
Looks
Lasts
Remember That You Are A Human Being With A Soul And The Divine Gift Of Articulate Speech: That Your Native Language Is The Language Of Shakespeare And Milton And The Bible; And Don't Sit There Crooning Like A Bilious Pigeon.
Bible
Pygmalion
Native Language
You Can Rave About Stravinsky Without The Slightest Risk Of Being Classified As A Lunatic By The Next Generation .
Risk
Generations
Next
Success Covers A Multitude Of Blunders.
Inspirational
Success
Congratulations
Remember That The Progress Of The World Depends On Your Knowing Better Than Your Elders.
Knowing Better
Progress
World
Life Is A Constant Becoming: All Stages Lead To The Beginning Of Others.
Becoming
Life Is
Stage
When A Man Wants To Murder A Tiger He Calls It Sport; When A Tiger Wants To Murder Him He Calls It Ferocity.
Sports
Men
Compassion
I Am Sorry To Have To Introduce The Subject Of Christmas. It Is An Indecent Subject; A Cruel, Gluttonous Subject; A Drunken, Disorderly Subject; A Wasteful, Disastrous Subject; A Wicked, Cadging, Lying, Filthy, Blasphemous And Demoralizing Subject. Christmas Is Forced On A Reluctant And Disgusted Nation By The Shopkeepers And The Press: On Its Own Merits It Would Wither And Shrivel In The Fiery Breath Of Universal Hatred; And Anyone Who Looked Back To It Would Be Turned Into A Pillar Of Greasy Sausages.
Sorry
Lying
Hatred
People Get Tired Of Everything, And Of Nothing Sooner Than Of What They Most Like.
Tired
People
Boredom
I Was Told That My Diet Was So Poor That I Could Not Repair The Bones That Were Broken And Operated On. So I Have Just Had An Xradiograph Taken; And Lo! Perfectly Mended Solid Bone So Beautifully White That I Have Left Instructions That, If I Die, A Glove Stretcher Is To Be Made Of Me And Sent To You As A Souvenir
Taken
White
Broken
Blasphemy And Sedition (meaning The Truth About Church And State).
Church
States
Church And State
It Is More Dangerous To Be A Great Prophet Or Poet Than To Promote Twenty Companies For Swindling Simple Folk Out Of Their Savings.
Simple
Twenties
Saving
There Is Nothing On Earth More Exquisite Than A Bonny Book, With Well-placed Columns Of Rich Black Writing In Beautiful Borders, And Illuminated Pictures Cunningly Inset. But Nowadays, Instead Of Looking At Books, People Read Them. A Book Might As Well Be One Of Those Orders For Bacon And Bran.
Beautiful
Book
Writing
A Man Ought To Be Able To Be Fond Of His Wife Without Making A Fool Of Himself About Her.
Men
Wife
Able
What Is Wrong With The Prosaic Englishman Is What Is Wrong With The Prosaic Men Of All Countries: Stupidity.
Funny
Country
Men
I Like To Quote Myself Frequently And Often, It Makes Me Sound Much More Intelligent Than I Actually Am.
Intelligent
Sound
The Man Who Writes About Himself And His Own Time Is The Only Man Who Writes About All People And About All Time.
Writing
Men
People
The Mathematician Is Fascinated With The Marvelous Beauty Of The Forms He Constructs, And In Their Beauty He Finds Everlasting Truth.
Beauty
Truth
Math
Wise Kings Wear Shabby Clothes, And Leave The Gold Lace To The Drum Major.
Wise
Kings
Clothes
No Man Can Be A Pure Specialist Without Being In The Strict Sense An Idiot.
Work
Men
Idiot
Bourgeois Morality Is Largely A System Of Making Cheap Virtues A Cloak For Expensive Vices.
Vices
Morality
Virtue
I Was A Freethinker Before I Knew How To Think.
Thinking
Freethinker
It Is Not True That Men Can Be Divided Into Absolutely Honest Persons And Absolutely Dishonest Ones. Our Honesty Varies With The Strain Put On It.
Honesty
Men
Persons
Beauty Is All Very Well At First Sight; But Who Ever Looks At It When It Has Been In The House Three Days?
Funny
Beauty
Humor
Sherlock Holmes Was A Drug Addict Without A Single Amiable Trait.
Drug
Holmes
Amiable
Some People Look At The World And Say 'why?' Some People Look At The World And Say 'why Not?'
Positive Thinking
People
Looks
The Anti-vivisector Does Not Deny That Physiologists Must Make Experiments And Even Take Chances With New Methods. He Says That They Must Not Seek Knowledge By Criminal Methods, Just As They Must Not Make Money By Criminal Methods. He Does Not Object To Galileo Dropping Cannon Balls From The Top Of The Leaning Tower Of Pisa; But He Would Object To Shoving Off Two Dogs Or American Tourists.
Dog
Animal
Two
Marry Ann; And At The End Of A Week You'll Find No More Inspiration In Her Than In A Plate Of Muffins.
Inspiration
Muffins
Week
I Finished My First Book Seventy-six Years Ago. I Offered It To Every Publisher On The English-speaking Earth I Had Ever Heard Of. Their Refusals Were Unanimous: And It Did Not Get Into Print Until, Fifty Years Later; Publishers Would Publish Anything That Had My Name On It.
Book
Years
Names
While We Have Prisons It Matters Little Which Of Us Occupy The Cells.
Cells
Littles
Matter
I Am A Sort Of Collector Of Religions: And The Curious Thing Is That I Find I Can Believe In Them All.
Believe
Curiosity
Religion
Marriage Is Good Enough For The Lower Classes: They Have Facilities For Desertion That Are Denied To Us.
Class
Good Enough
Denied
When You Want To Put Something Into Your Part That Is Not In The Play, You Must Ask The Author-or Some Other Author-to Lead Up To The Interpolation For You. Never Forget That The Effect Of A Line May Depend Not On Its Delivery, But On Something Said Earlier In The Play, Either By Somebody Else Or By Yourself, And That If You Change It, It May Be Necessary To Change The Whole First Act As Well.
Play
Theatre
Lines
Such Poverty As We Have Today In All Our Great Cities Degrades The Poor, And Infects With Its Degradation The Whole Neighborhood In Which They Live. And Whatever Can Degrade A Neighborhood Can Degrade A Country And A Continent And Finally The Whole Civilized World, Which Is Only A Large Neighborhood.
Country
Cities
Degradation
Faith In Reason As A Prime Motor Is No Longer The Criterion Of The Sound Mind, Any More Than Faith In The Bible Is The Criterion Of Righteous Intention.
Bible
Faith
Mind
It Is Doubtless Wise, When A Reform Is Introduced, To Try To Persuade The British Public That It Is Not A Reform At All; But Appearances Must Be Kept Up To Some Extent At Least.
Wise
Trying
Reform
He Who Can, Does. He Who Cannot, Teaches.
Education
Witty
Teacher
Nobody Supposes That Doctors Are Less Virtuous Than Judges; But A Judge Whose Salary And Reputation Depended On Whether The Verdict Was For Plaintiff Or Defendant, Prosecutor Or Prisoner, Would Be As Little Trusted As A General In The Pay Of The Enemy.
Doctors
Judging
Enemy
Money Enables Us To Get What We Want Instead Of What Other People Think We Want.
Thinking
People
Want
If In The Library Of Your House You Do Not Have The Works Of The Ancient Greek Writers, Then You Live In A House With No Light.
Light
House
Greek
The Sex Illusion Is Not A Fixed Quantity: Not What Mathematicians Call A Constant. It Varies From Zero In My Wife's Case To Madness In That Of Our Stepsister.
Sex
Zero
Wife
The Longer I Live, The More Convinced Am I That This Planet Is Used By Other Planets As A Lunatic Asylum.
Lunatic Asylums
Used
Planets
The Churches Must Learn Humility As Well As Teach It.
Humility
Church
Teach
Affection Between Adults - If They Are Really Adult In Mind And Not Merely Grown Up Children - And Creatures So Relatively Selfish And Cruel As Children Necessarily Are Without Knowing It Or Meaning It, Cannot Be Called Natural.
Children
Selfish
Knowing
As You Say, I Am Honoured And Famous And Rich. But As I Have To Do All The Hard Work, And Suffer An Increasing Multitude Of Fools Gladly, It Does Not Feel Any Better Than Being Reviled, Infamous And Poor, As I Used To Be.
Hard Work
Suffering
Doe
There Is Nothing That Can Be Changed More Completely Than Human Nature When The Job Is Taken In Hand Early Enough.
Life
Success
Nature
Democracy Is A Word All Public Men Use And None Understand.
Men
Democracy
Use
I've Posed Nude For A Photographer In The Manner Of Rodin's Thinker, But I Merely Looked Constipated.
Rodin
Photographer
Thinker
Woman's Happiness Begins With Her First Love And Ends About Then
First Love
Firsts
Ends
After All, The Wrong Road Always Leads Somewhere.
Wrong Road
Money Is A Most Important Thing In The World.
Important
World
Important Things
I Can't Control What Life Did To Me, But I Can Control How I React. Therein Lies The Difference.
Lying
Differences
I Can
I Fought Linotype And Montype For Some Time Because It Would Not Justify As Well As Handset Could Be Made To Do; But At Last, As Always Happens, The Machine Outdid The Hand, And Got All The Best Types On It.
Hands
Design
Machines
Altogether Too Many Sheep
Sheep
New Zealand
The Road To Ignorance Is Paved With Good Editions. Only The Illiterate Can Afford To Buy Good Books Now.
Book
Ignorance
Good Book
Ladies And Gentlemen Are Permitted To Have Friends In The Kennel, But Not In The Kitchen.
Funny
Kitchen
Gentleman
Be Like The Sun And Meadow, Which Are Not In The Least Concerned About The Coming Winter.
Winter
Sun
Meadows
I Don't. I Look My Age; And I Am My Age. It Is The Other People Who Look Older Than They Are. What Can You Expect From People Who Eat Corpses And Drink Spirits?
People
Age
Looks
Though All Society Is Founded On Intolerance, All Improvement Is Founded On Tolerance.
Tolerance
Improvement
Intolerance
Peace Is Not Only Better Than War, But Infinitely More Arduous.
Veterans Day
Peace
War
Fashions Are The Only Induced Epidemics, Proving That Epidemics Can Be Induced By Tradesmen.
Fashion
Epidemics
Prove
Never Repeat Old Grievances.
Forgiveness
Grievance
Repeats
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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