Category Archives: Quotations

Things people said.

‘Res Ipsa Loquitur’: The Thing Speaks for Itself

Posted on December 23, 2022 by JMN

“Zelensky is basically an ungrateful, international welfare queen.” (Donald Trump Jr., quoted at https://www.washingtonpost.com/doonesbury/, 12-22-22) Billingsgate of this sort pervades the lowest rungs of public discourse in America. What’s notable for the student of rhetoric is how, even though the … Continue reading →

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Trills and Spills from ‘Gilgamesh’s Snake’

Posted on December 14, 2022 by JMN

Verses are from Ghareeb Iskander, Gilgamesh’s Snake and Other Poems, Bilingual Edition translated from the Arabic by John Glenday and Ghareeb Iskander, Syracuse University Press, 2016. Translations here are mine. (c) 2022 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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Poetry PowerPoint, Crossdressing Wolf

Posted on December 11, 2022 by JMN

Cartoons can slay. Here are two that plaster a grin on my face for the connections they make. The first is from The New Yorker. The second is from Larson’s The Far Side Daily Dose website. (1) I once had … Continue reading →

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A Dying Hero’s Own Thoughts and Prayers

Posted on December 8, 2022 by JMN

Vicky Phelan died of cervical cancer last month at age 48 in County Limerick, Ireland. She had been an advocate for fellow victims of botched Pap smears. Her ringing demand for freedom from callous, corrupt leadership has universal application. “I … Continue reading →

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The Fellow’s Garrulous, But a Decent Painter

Posted on December 5, 2022 by JMN

He talks about a narrow, closed view of the world in which a contempt for America – the home of “degenerate” jazz for the Nazis, the capitalist enemy for the GDR – was a constant. “Until I was about 20 … Continue reading →

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Bill Lynch Painted on Wood

Posted on November 30, 2022 by JMN

“I realised that the art of the 20th century is the fruit of personal revelation,” Lynch wrote, “while ancient art is the product of mystery initiation.” I’ve no idea what Bill Lynch (1960 – 2013) meant by his incantation about … Continue reading →

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Sensing the Presence of Vinegar: Food Poetry

Posted on November 25, 2022 by JMN

(A squalid detail to put behind us: “vichyssoise” is misspelled in the review as “vichysoisse.” Slipshod, to be sure, but my esteem for Pete Wells’s writing remains intact. Even Homer nodded.) Pete Wells said once that when he became restaurant … Continue reading →

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Less Democrazy, More Malumacy: El señor Fútbol señala al insigne artista colombiano

Posted on November 22, 2022 by JMN

“I will say something which is crazy, but less democracy is sometimes better for organizing a World Cup. When you have a very strong head of state, that is easier for us organizers.” (FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke, 2013) Nota … Continue reading →

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Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Sober Soccer

Posted on November 19, 2022 by JMN

“I feel 200 percent in control of this World Cup.” (FIFA lord Gianni Infantino) With four games per day in the opening group stage, all played in what is effectively a single city-state, Infantino said the movement of large groups … Continue reading →

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Hardcore Arabic: ‘Treble Formation’

Posted on November 19, 2022 by JMN

The language has astonishing sweep and granularity that are explicit and penetrative to a degree redolent of lore and legend. The open-sesame to Arabic’s magic for this English speaker is Wright’s majestic grammar. (1) Here, of an early morning on … Continue reading →

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