dennis scharnberg

“There is no such thing as power, Brenda. But there is control.”

Thaddeus Crewes, Crowded Evil World.

If you lose, the enemy will decide what it was all about (as both World Wars demonstrate).

Roone Giddings, Dirty Old Coins.

Theater is reality.

Roger Sensabaugh, A Short History of Boredom.

“We have considered the matter at some length and have come to the conclusion that, yes, we are quite sophisticated.” Mr. Travis inferred this statement strictly from the smirk on Lydia’s face.

Charles Jeffrey Yett, Writing in Miniature—Vol. Three.

Convincing a person to like some particular thing is a form of sophistry.

Godfrey Tooke, Collected Aphorisms.

…besides, the greatest architect of all was actually a composer named Johann Sebastian Bach.

Harold Nazworthy, Weidemeyer’s Admiral.

Box of pine, barrel of wine, scrub me ever till I shine.

Anne Sensabaugh, The Faulty Haiku.

The notion that “there is no turning back” is crucial to modernism. It is equal in importance to the relentless promotion of “star” players (van Gogh, Picasso, Pollock, Warhol).

Hill Boothby, Essays on Disappointment Management.

“Silas Wegg, for example, was scrupulously dishonest. He found a sort of pride, or sense of purpose, in that.”

Will Bestwyck, Letters from Mr. Palindrome.

Careerism is about being something, not doing something.

Christopher Jayne, A Critique of Sincerity.