Querulously Def Quotes & Sayings

Genes don't mean necessarily that you have got a certain strand of gene that makes you particularly acceptable as a public official. — Kenneth Langone

The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the crown. It may be frail, its roof may shake, the winds may blow through it, the storm may enter, the rain may enter; but the king of England cannot enter. — William Pitt, 1st Earl Of Chatham

I can't belly dance.'
Yes, you can. It's in your fi
'
Will you stop reading my goddamn file! — Jennifer Rardin

When someone takes their existing business and tries to transform it into something else - they fail. In technology that is often the case. Look at Kodak: it was the dominant imaging company in the world. They did fabulously during the great depression, but then wiped out the shareholders because of technological change. — Charlie Munger

Do you remember? Do you remember being solid? Do you remember life before the hole? Before you were empty and needed to be filled? There was a time when everything was enough. There was a time you didn't try to get out of your own skin. Remember? — Amy Reed

Lenz likes him, and there's always this slight hangnail of fear, like clinging, whenever he likes somebody. It's like something terrible could happen at any time. Less fear than a kind of tension in the region of stomach and ass, an all-body wince. Deciding to go ahead and think somebody's a stand-up guy: it's like you drop something, you give up all of your power over it: you have to stand there impotent waiting for it to hit the ground: all you can do is brace and wince. It kind of enrages Lenz to like somebody. — David Foster Wallace

Displaced Person's Song

If you see a train this evening,
Far away, against the sky,
Lie down in your woolen blanket,
Sleep and let the train go by.

Trains have called us, every midnight,
From a thousand miles away,
Trains that pass through empty cities,
Trains that have no place to stay.

No one drives the locomotive,
No one tends the staring light,
Trains have never needed riders,
Trains belong to bitter night.

Railway stations stand deserted,
Rights-of-way lie clear and cold,
What we left them, trains inherit,
Trains go on, and we grow old.

Let them cry like cheated lovers,
Let their cries find only wind,
Trains are meant for night and ruin,
And we are meant for song and sin. — Thomas Pynchon

My father saw two black men lynched on his street in Cartersville, as a child. And I think seeing two black businessmen - not vagrants - hanging from trees as a child was traumatic for him. — Toni Morrison

History will only ever be partial, to a large extent history tells us what we think should be remembered and what should be forgotten, I find that really problematic. — Matt Smith

I taught myself the first year course while I was on the dole, then moved to London to do an MA at SOAS, which led straight into a PhD. — Deborah Smith

(Out of the Shadow is) Exceptional....Meticulously plotted, beautifully paced, its an intelligent, fascinating story that draws you in.
I couldn't put it down, a great read..
Winn, masterfully weaves together the lives of characters into a rich and vivid tapestry,
all the while exploring complex human emotions.
A definite page turner.

Patricia O'Halloran — J.K. Winn