do the stars know the names by which we call them? we, the hubristic and temporary, label the unthinkably ancient with quick mouth sounds and fading pen-scratches. will they mourn when we are gone? would they say: “nice try, two-legs;…
Tag: “Bob”
Cult of the Hidden Joke.
For Franz Kafka
THE OLD WOMAN SAT, SOFTLY singing, on a blue wooden chair in the vast cobbled square, rippling a carpet of birds with each cast of her seedful hand. Tall jagged buildings loomed on all four sides — blocky and black-windowed,…
I am the greatest man in the world; indeed I am so great that I can afford great generosity: I encourage all others to adopt the delusion that they are as great as I. If they truly thought that they were themselves the greatest, they too would be as generous; and then we would all be able to humor each other, in peace, for none would feel threatened by the now-harmless delusions of everyone else.”
— Dr. Philo Drummond (Now go thou and do likewise.)
Too Bad
“WE PASSED THROUGH SEVERAL HUNDRED media-transmission shells on our way in,” the communications officer said. “Of course, we were eager to see who had made them.” By the pale light of a flickering viewscreen, the captain’s expression was thoughtful. “I…
Pithyism #O-O
TO STAY ALIVE ON A bicycle or in a crosswalk, pretend you’re invisible. (The other drivers won’t see you anyway, so you may as well own it.)
Some people use the word ‘God’ the way white supremacists use the word ‘patriot.'”
— me
Pithyism #666 (Three Little Words You May [or May Not] Want to Hear)
“HERE THEY COME.”
Pithyism #-30-
DO NOT MOCK THE DAMNED, for you yourself may be one of them someday. — Old reporter’s proverb
I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT ‘bizarre’ means anymore.”
— Anthony Bourdain
It used to freak me out that I’d never see the back of my own head. Now that I’ve accepted it, I can move on to the house of mirrors.”
— Barbatus the Elder
Pithyism #001010
SOMETIMES, THE TERM “ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE” is just a cover for genuine stupidity.
Only great pain is the ultimate liberator of the spirit […] I doubt that such pain makes us ‘better’; but I know that it makes us more profound.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche