Great Quotes III: Source and Context are Key

[Ferocitus]

"I put on clothes which didn't suit me, and others thought i was someone i was not, and i said nothing, and was lost". Fernando Pessoa.

One of the three great writers of the 20th century, imo. Pessoa-Borges-Kafka.

Although I like him a lot, I'd leave out Borges and include P.G. Wodehouse, just for this line alone:
Into the face of the young man who sat on the terrace of the Hotel Magnifique at
Cannes there had crept a look of furtive shame, the shifty, hangdog look which
announces that an Englishman is about to talk French.

 

[Kyriakos]

That probably isn't enough to place him above Borges, though

 

[Kyriakos]

Prometheus Bound is such a potent work... Many quotable passages. Another of those being:

βραχεῖ δὲ μύθῳ πάντα συλλήβδην μάθε,
πᾶσαι τέχναι βροτοῖσιν ἐκ Προμηθέως.

which translates to: "So that you can know all of it through a brief passage: all of the human arts (abilities) come from Prometheus".

The ending of the play is the absolute climax as well.

 

[Ferocitus]

That probably isn't enough to place him above Borges, though

True, but IMO his complete works would outshine Borges, and will be read
long after Borges is just a relic in academic circles. Jeeves is extremely
famous, the Sherlock Holmes of butlers.
IIRC, during those "best of the 20th century" things in 2000, Wodehouse
romped in as the best writer of comedy. (Tom Lehrer was the best satirist,
which wasn't far from wrong either.)

Protip: Wodehouse is pronounced Woodhouse, not Woadhouse. Just in case
you get invited to a literary party and don't want to make a fule of yourself.

 

[Takhisis]

That belongs in the Cool pics thread, man!

long after Borges is just a relic in academic circles

Humour and jokes thread is that way ----->

 

[Ferocitus]

Humour and jokes thread is that way ----->

Coincidentally, that is exactly the same direction Plato and I would send Borges
after reading some of his execrable poetry!

"When any of these pantomimic gentlemen, who are so clever that they can imitate
anything, comes to us, and makes a proposal to exhibit himself and his poetry,
we will fall down and worship him as a sweet and holy and wonderful being; but
we must also inform him that in our State such as he are not permitted to exist;
the law will not allow them. And so when we have anointed him with myrrh, and
set a garland of wool upon his head, we shall send him away to another city."
Plato - The Republic.

 

[Takhisis]

Coincidentally, that is exactly the same direction Plato and I would send Borges
after reading some of his execrable poetry!

Thus spake the man who inserts line breaks randomly.

 

[Ferocitus]

Thus spake the man who inserts line breaks randomly.

My text editor hates his poetry too and uses sarcasm to emphasise the point.
I bet Vi and MS Word love it.

I like most of the stories Borges wrote, and his little pieces describing
imaginary beasts. His essays and poetry are awful. Maybe that's why they never
gave him a Nobel for literature.

 

[Takhisis]

Now you're criticising his essays?

(although, as always, until the Snorwegians take back their prize from Kissinger the Nobel is a joke)

 

[Ferocitus]

Now you're criticising his essays?

Yes. They're as bad as his poetry but with no creative line-breaks.

(although, as always, until the Snorwegians take back their prize from Kissinger the Nobel is a joke)

They could just swap around a few of the prizes to make them more appropriate.
Borges gets a posthumous peace prize for services to Pinochet; Dr Napalm swaps
his peace prize for one in chemistry.

Philosophy, n. A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing.
Ambrose Bierce, anticipating The Garden of Forking Paths.

 

[Takhisis]

Ferocitus, you'd better read Borges in the original.

 

[Ferocitus]

Ferocitus, you'd better read Borges in the original.

Too late. I'm not interested in going back to what I read >30 years ago. He
entertained me with some good stories, annoyed me with his literary
pontificating, and made me pity him for some of his horrid poetry.

Don't get me wrong: I like his stories. Some of his biggest fans, like Eco, were
happy to have him burn to death in a fictional library. I wonder whether it was
that awful poetry that finally got to Eco too.

 

[Kyriakos]

Borges has also a lingering trait of being some kind of refined mind in the general squalor (particularly from his own point of view) of south american low-end neighborhoods that frequently appear in his better works (eg in Founes). It is a kind of a 'genius in the mud' effect. Contrary to the rather boring 'slightly-intelligent-but-not-really westerner in large western metropolis'.
I suppose this is primarily why he also features India at times; analogous squalor (eg in The man on the threshold).

Imo he is less good than Kafka and Pessoa, but some of his works are indeed hugely impressive, and due to those early or mid-period works he already deserves to be seen as one of the greats.
That said... he wrote very few things, actually. And had his own host of issues - i also mean writing issues.

 

[Ferocitus]

A contribution for those who fear or love "AI".

A smart machine will first consider which is more worth its while: to perform
the given task or, instead, to figure some way out of it.
Stanislaw Lem, The Futurological Congress (1971).

 

[Lexicus]

"That is a chapter of ancient history which it might be good to recall; for there was sorrow then too, and gathering dark, but great valour, and great deeds that were not wholly vain."

~Gandalf, The Lord of The Rings, Book I

I recalled this quote as I'm re-reading one of my favorite books about World War II, and found this quote in there, from a letter written by a Soviet citizen in 1941:

Even those of us who knew that our government was wicked, that there was little to choose between the SS and the NKVD except their language, and who despised the hypocrisy of Communist politics - we felt that we must fight. Because every Russian who had lived through the Revolution and the thirties had felt a breeze of hope, for the first time in the history of our people. We were like the bud at the tip of a root which has wound its way for centuries under rocky soil. We felt ourselves to be within inches of the open sky.

We knew that we would die, of course. But our children would inherit two things: A land free of the invader; and Time, in which the progressive ideals of Communism might emerge.

 

[Lexicus]

"You, you the people of the South, believe there can be such a thing as peaceable secession. You don't know what you are doing. I know there can be no such thing. ... If you will have it, the North must fight you for its own preservation. Yes, South Carolina has by this act precipitated war. ... This country will be drenched in blood. God only knows how it will end. Perhaps the liberties of the whole country, of every section and every man will be destroyed, and yet you know that within the Union no man's liberty or property in all the South is endangered. ... Oh, it is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization. ... You people speak so lightly of war. You don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing. I know you are a brave, fighting people, but for every day of actual fighting, there are months of marching, exposure and suffering. More men die in war from sickness than are killed in battle. At best war is a frightful loss of life and property, and worse still is the demoralization of the people. ...

"You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people, but an earnest people and will fight too, and they are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it.

"Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The Northern people not only greatly outnumber the whites at the South, but they are a mechanical people with manufactures of every kind, while you are only agriculturists--a sparse population covering a large extent of territory, and in all history no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics. ...

"The North can make a steam-engine, locomotive or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical and determined people on earth--right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all els eyou are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with.

"At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, and shut out from the markets of Europe by blockade as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. ... if your people would but stop and think, they must see that in the end you will surely fail."

-William T Sherman, 1860

 

[hobbsyoyo]

"You, you the people of the South, believe there can be such a thing as peaceable secession. You don't know what you are doing. I know there can be no such thing. ... If you will have it, the North must fight you for its own preservation. Yes, South Carolina has by this act precipitated war. ... This country will be drenched in blood. God only knows how it will end. Perhaps the liberties of the whole country, of every section and every man will be destroyed, and yet you know that within the Union no man's liberty or property in all the South is endangered. ... Oh, it is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization. ... You people speak so lightly of war. You don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing. I know you are a brave, fighting people, but for every day of actual fighting, there are months of marching, exposure and suffering. More men die in war from sickness than are killed in battle. At best war is a frightful loss of life and property, and worse still is the demoralization of the people. ...

"You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people, but an earnest people and will fight too, and they are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it.

"Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The Northern people not only greatly outnumber the whites at the South, but they are a mechanical people with manufactures of every kind, while you are only agriculturists--a sparse population covering a large extent of territory, and in all history no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics. ...

"The North can make a steam-engine, locomotive or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical and determined people on earth--right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all els eyou are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with.

"At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, and shut out from the markets of Europe by blockade as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. ... if your people would but stop and think, they must see that in the end you will surely fail."

-William T Sherman, 1860

Related -

Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, you may win Southern independence if God be not against you, but I doubt it. I tell you that, while I believe with you in the doctrine of states rights, the North is determined to preserve this Union. They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates. But when they begin to move in a given direction, they move with the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche; and what I fear is, they will overwhelm the South

Sam Houston, after refusing to take part in secession and being replaced as the governor of Texas.

 

[Lexicus]

I love the 19th century ethnology on display here!

They are a peaceable people, but an earnest people and will fight too,

they are a mechanical people with manufactures of every kind, while you are only agriculturists

They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates.

 

[Mouthwash]

First two seem pretty sensible by today's standards. A bit facile, maybe, but not wrong.

 

[Lexicus]

I don't think they're not "sensible", I just find the phrasing funny.