#drag

Imagine a land where people are afraid of dragons. It is a reasonable fear: dragons possess a number of qualities that make being afraid of them a very commendable response. Things like their terrible size, their ability to spout fire, or to crack boulders into splinters with their massive talons. In fact, the only terrifying quality that dragons do not possess is that of existence. Now, the people of this land know about dragons because their leaders have warned them about them. They tell stories about cruel dragons with razor teeth and fiery breath. They recount legends of dragons hunting by night on silent wings. In short, the leaders make sure that the people believe in all the qualities of dragons, including that key quality of existence. And then they control the people — when they need to — with their fear of dragons. The people pay a dragon-slaying tax … everyone stays indoors after dark to avoid being snatched by swooping claws … and nobody ever strays out of bounds for fear of being eaten well and truly up. Perhaps somebody will wonder if dragons aren’t, after all, fictitious because — despite their size — nobody seems to have actually seen one. And so it is necessary from time to time to provide evidence: a burnt tree or two, a splintered rock, the mysterious absence of a villager. The population is controlled by the dragons in its collective mind. It’s contrived superstition, and it is possible because the people do not know enough about the way the world works to know that dragons do not exist. ↗

— David Whiteland

#dragons #existence #faith #ignorance #superstition

Pop science goes flying off in all kinds of fashionable directions, and it often drags a lot of SF writers with it. I've been led astray like that myself at times. ↗

— Greg Egan

#been #directions #drags #fashionable #flying

Dragons and bridges are very much something out of fairy tales and fantasy. ↗

— John Howe

#dragons #fairy #fairy tales #fantasy #much

Society is a republic. When an individual tries to lift themselves above others, they are dragged down by the mass, either by ridicule or slander. ↗

— Victor Hugo

#down #dragged #either #individual #lift

If I would get an album out every eight months and if I would write songs that were more up-tempo and try to focus more on making singles, then I could probably get more attention. But I don't think the albums would be very fun to listen to, and it would be a drag for me. ↗

— Chris Isaak

#albums #attention #could #drag #eight

We usually use that mostly on the weekends because we have access to the range during the week. But I can tell you a number of times they have had a training holiday at Fort Benning, so nobody trains, and to drag him in is like pulling teeth. ↗

— Nancy Johnson

#because #drag #during #fort #had

A drawing is always dragged down to the level of its caption. ↗

— James Thurber

#down #dragged #drawing #level

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. ↗

— J. R. R. Tolkien

#does #dragon #him #leave #live

They say it's good but I didn't know what I was doing until I got into the suit and they put the moustache on me, and somehow, when I got all the drag on, it came out. It was the most amazing thing. I'm truly extraordinary. ↗

— Harvey Korman

#amazing thing #came #doing #drag #extraordinary

I don't want to be dragging myself on stage, year in year out, until someone else tells me it is time to go. There are certain birthdays that make you revalue your life. ↗

— Tina Turner

#certain #dragging #else #go #i