Seriality Quotes & Sayings

It was modesty that invented the word "philosopher" in Greece and left the magnificent overweening presumption in calling oneselfwise to the actors of the spirit
the modesty of such monsters of pride and sovereignty as Pythagoras, as Plato. — Friedrich Nietzsche

Now that I have made this catalogue of swindles and perversions, let me give another example of the kind of writing that they lead to. This time it must of its nature be an imaginary one. I am going to translate a passage of good English into modern English of the worst sort. Here is a well-known verse from Ecclesiastes:
I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Here it is in modern English:
Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account. — George Orwell

I was frozen like in a dream when your feet weigh fifty pounds each and the danger is almost upon you. — Anne Lamott

I have frequently said, and I will repeat again, in the manner of any well-meaning seriality, that I'm interested in mixing the ingratiation of wishful thinking with the criticality of knowing better. — Barbara Kruger

When liberty is taken away by force, it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished by default it can never be recovered. — Dorothy Thompson

The hardest part about changing the new year is changing ourselves. We have to write each day differently than last year's days. If we do, we increase the chances we won't meet with last year's disappointments. Patricia Hickman — Patricia Hickman