How does one say something that really matters? And notice, please, that I do not specify to whom it might matter. Nor will I address the when and the where of such a statement. But just this: How might one come upon those words—and that ordering of the words—that would present undeniable substance to an audience?
Victoria Salt, A Compendium of Opening Lines.
That communication between humans is possible does not hinge on our being able to see how it is possible.
Titus Musgrave, The Enigma of the Box.
“I don’t claim to be wise. Well, actually I do. It’s just that I am not wise.”
Sebastian Sleeve, The Random Walk and Other Stories.
What can be said about any “serious” painting today? That it is an advertisement for Contemporary Art.
Tobias Esterhase, Codes and Encoding.
The real world is a place of smudges and smears and complications. Classical Mechanics—indeed, Physical Chemistry itself—simultaneously accounts for that world and escapes it.
Forrest W. Wilhelm, A Reconsideration of Kinetics.
The weakness of any “theory” can be seen in the fact that we quickly find it too inconvenient to keep regarding it as theory. Soon enough, it must be taken as fact. (The tentative considered as a form of pain?) Of course, there is one alternative: the theory can be discarded.
Stefan Jannings, Prolegomena to Any Future.
It is now time to consider that, in this culture, “wasting [my] time” is an accomplishment. A positive achievement.
Addison West, The Ontology of Destruction.
The “creativity of the artist”. Of all the modernist dreams that you dwell in, can’t you at least wake from that one?
Lila Lawyer, Letters to My Daughter.
“There are no facts. They do not exist.” Oh, but is that a fact? Of course, it is a crucial question.
Raymond Sapulpa, Circus Giganticus.
I would notice everything. Everything. All things visual, olfactory, tactile, aural. Smudges, perfumes, shrieks, rough edges. Everything. Yes, if I were a taxi driver, I would make a point of noticing.
Roger Penberthy, A Non-Newtonian Unpleasantness.
