Category Archives: Quotations

Things people said.

“Bid for Connection”

Posted on July 8, 2019 by JMN

Frank Bruni has written about his personal confrontation with potential loss of vision. In this column he writes of Joel Burcat, an environmental lawyer who has published a debut novel, “Drink to Every Beast,” after becoming legally blind. Bruni celebrates … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Saving Grace of Dinghies

Posted on July 6, 2019 by JMN

I have had a soft spot in my heart for the humble dinghy since boyhood. At age 14 I ordered the plans for building a one-design sailing dinghy called the El Toro. Regrettably I never got the thing built, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Quotations | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Art… (and Love)

Posted on July 6, 2019 by JMN

“Art and making things — particularly making things — are essential to our salvation,” [Milton Glaser] said. “I come to work every day and I sit down and I feel so happy, because I’m capable of taking something that exists … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Patrician Passion With an Accent

Posted on July 5, 2019 by JMN

The drama – featuring the kind of flat, chirruping upper-middle-class English accents that aren’t usually voiced on screen – is intriguing and uncompromisingly high-minded, right on the laugh-with/laugh-at borderline, but interestingly unafraid of mockery. (Peter Bradshaw, “Vita & Virginia review … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | Leave a comment

“Sagacious Show in a Handsome Shack”

Posted on July 3, 2019 by JMN

Brice Marden’s artistic and cultural crossing of boundaries is exciting. In the mid-1980s, the abstract painter Brice Marden veered from his early monochromes and grids to calligraphic circuits, inspired by his reading of the… poet Hanshan, or Cold Mountain… Black … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Quotations | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Dirty Truth

Posted on June 26, 2019 by JMN

“Ink is the cosmetic that ideas will wear when they go out in public. Graphite is their dirty truth.” (Henry Petroski, pencil historian) (Tim Harford, “Have we all underrated the humble pencil?” http://www.bbc.co.uk, 6-26-19) (c) 2019 JMN

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | Leave a comment

Piquancy from Iris Murdoch

Posted on June 25, 2019 by JMN

“Meat is really just an excuse for eating vegetables.” (“The Sea, The Sea,” 1978) “To find a person inexhaustible is simply the definition of love.” (“Under the Net,” 1954 — Murdoch’s first novel) (Quotes are from Dwight Garner, “On the … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | 2 Comments

Prophecy Fire

Posted on June 9, 2019 by JMN

Paul Theroux traveled in China in 1986 and 1987 for his book “Riding the Iron Rooster” published in 1988. He described police assaults on pro-democracy demonstrators that he witnessed. The book was dismissed by some reviewers “as alarmist and Sinophobic.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Vindication of Stuttering

Posted on June 8, 2019 by JMN

The battle with speech impediment can equip persons like Darcey Steinke with fascinating insights into language. It was around this time [in elementary school] that I started separating the alphabet into good letters, V as well as M, and bad … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Didn’t Speak English

Posted on June 7, 2019 by JMN

The Catholic leader changed the phrase “lead us not into temptation” to “do not let us fall into temptation”… Francis explained… “It’s Satan who leads us into temptation, that’s his department.” Fox News religion correspondent, Jonathan Morris, told Martha MacCallum … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Quotations | Tagged , , | Leave a comment