#commentary

He writes the worst English that I have ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it. It drags itself out of the dark abysm of pish, and crawls insanely up the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and doodle. It is balder and dash. (writing about US President Warren G. Harding) ↗

— H.L. Mencken

#literary-criticism #political-commentary #president

…does not need Facebook, Twitter and Stumble Upon. She is a whole social media network all by herself. ↗

— Pandora Poikilos

#social-commentary #twitter

I think I will always stay involved in tennis and would like to give back by helping out young players. I have done a little commentary and may one day enjoy doing that again. ↗

— Samantha Stosur

#always #back #commentary #day #doing

What the hell is this stuff?" he muttered, frowning at the oily spot on the linen cloth. "Pearlman slathered it on me this morning." "It's macassar oil. Gentlemen use it to keep their hair neat. Nicholas used it," she added pointedly. "Well, tomorrow he's giving it up. I smell like a rotten apple." "You do not. And I think it looks rather nice." He sent her an incredulous look. "I look like an otter. And everything I put my head against gets greasy." "That's why someone invented the antimacassar," she told him, almost smiling. "The-aha!" He laughed as he made the connection. "Of course. First they invent something stupid, then something ugly to make up for it. We live in a wondrous age, Annie. ↗

— Patricia Gaffney

#social-commentary #victorian-era #age

Everyone knew that fat had become the new cancer, yet they bellyached about the dieting hysteria and applauded the "real" women's body. As though doing no exercise and being overfed was some kind of sensible mold. ↗

— Jo Nesbø

#diet

...all these things were part of the business of dreams. He had learned not to laugh at the advertisements offering to teach writing, cartooning, engineering, to add inches to the biceps and to develop the bust ↗

— Nathanael West

#capitalism #commercialization #conformity #disillusionment #self-perception

It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. ↗

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

#inspirational #lecture #nonfiction #philosophy #self-reliance

A hero would die for his country, but he'd much rather live for it. ↗

— Aaron Sorkin

#social-commentary #inspirational

Everyone in life has a purpose, even if it's to serve as a bad example ↗

— Carroll Bryant

#life

My entire soul is a cry, and all my work is a commentary on that cry. ↗

— Nikos Kazantzakis

#cry #entire #soul #work