#lag

The ethics of plagiarism have turned into the narcissism of small differences: because journalism cannot own up to its heavily derivative nature, it must enforce originality on the level of the sentence. ↗

— Malcolm Gladwell

#originality #plagiarism #nature

Well, that's science fiction television for you, though," Abnett said. "Someone's got to be the red shirt. ↗

— John Scalzi

#science

On the hill opposite, Joachim tolled the midday bell, announcing lunch to the workers in the fields. Klaus listened a moment, then said, "I thought it would be a bleaker scene." Dietrich turned to him, "What would be?" "This day. I thought it would be marked by terrible signs - lowering clouds, ominous winds, a crack of thunder. Twilight. Yet, it is so ordinary a morning that I grow frightened." "Only now frightened." "Ja. Portents would mean a Divine Mover, however mysterious His moves; and the wrath of an angry God may be turned away by prayer and penance. But it simply happened. Everard grew sick and fell down. There were no signs; so it may be a natural thing, as you have always said. And against nature, we have no recourse. ↗

— Michael Flynn

#nature

It is straightforward—and never mind, for now, about plagues and famines: if God existed, and if he cared for humankind, he would never have given us religion. ↗

— Martin Amis

#famines #god #humans #plagues #problem-of-evil

But Annabeth just smiled and put us in jail. As she was heading back to the front line, she turned and winked. "See you at the fireworks?" She didn't even wait for my answer before darting off into the woods. I looked at Beckendorf. "Did she just...ask me out?" He shrugged, completely disgusted. "Who knows with girls? Give me a haywire dragon, any day." So we sat together and waited while the girls won the game. ↗

— Rick Riordan

#capture-the-flag #charles-beckendorf #fireworks #percy-jackson #silena-beauregard

Finally, there's a sense in which I look at this Westminster village and London intelligentsia as an outsider. ↗

— Diane Abbott

#i #intelligentsia #london #look #outsider

Giving women education, work, the ability to control their own income, inherit and own property, benefits the society. If a woman is empowered, her children and her family will be better off. If families prosper, the village prospers, and eventually so does the whole country. ↗

— Isabel Allende

#benefits #better #better off #children #control

When I become the village idiot, or at least, it starts to become a joke, you can't do that much longer. ↗

— Joan Van Ark

#i #idiot #joke #least #longer

Disarming Iraq is legal under a series of U.N. resolutions. Iraq is in flagrant violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. ↗

— Jose Maria Aznar

#disarming #flagrant #iraq #legal #resolutions

I'm always described as 'cocksure' or 'with a swagger,' and that bears no resemblance to who I feel like inside. I feel plagued by insecurity. ↗

— Ben Affleck

#bears #cocksure #described #feel #i