Well,' said Can o' Beans, a bit hesitantly,' imprecise speech is one of the major causes of mental illness in human beings.' Huh?' Quite so. The inability to correctly perceive reality is often responsible for humans' insane behavior. And every time they substitute an all-purpose, sloppy slang word for the words that would accurately describe an emotion or a situation, it lowers their reality orientations, pushes them farther from shore, out onto the foggy waters of alienation and confusion.' The manner in which the other were regarding him/her made Can O' Beans feel compelled to continue. 'The word neat, for example, has precise connotations. Neat means tidy, orderly, well-groomed. It's a valuable tool for describing the appearance of a room, a hairdo, or a manuscript. When it's generically and inappropriately applied, though, as it is in the slang aspect, it only obscures the true nature of the thing or feeling that it's supposed to be representing. It's turned into a sponge word. You can wring meanings out of it by the bucketful--and never know which one is right. When a person says a movie is 'neat,' does he mean that it's funny or tragic or thrilling or romantic, does he mean that the cinematography is beautiful, the acting heartfelt, the script intelligent, the direction deft, or the leading lady has cleavage to die for? Slang possesses an economy, an immediacy that's attractive, all right, but it devalues experience by standardizing and fuzzing it. It hangs between humanity and the real world like a . . . a veil. Slang just makes people more stupid, that's all, and stupidity eventually makes them crazy. I'd hate to ever see that kind of craziness rub off onto objects.
Tom Robbins
Related I like to open for a band as it brings on sort of a challenge and it makes things more interesting. ... KELLY JONES (All the grief she had suffered over her lifetime had moulded her face into a mask of eternal sadnes... JEAN SASSON Empathy is the new measurement of everything. It doesn't matter what religion you have, what God you... C. JOYBELL C. You must save what you can of your life; you musn't lose it all simply because you've lost a part. HENRY JAMES His life seemed like a deck of cards, and in the midst of all those two’s and three’s someone ha... TEKOA MANNING I am often asked how it is that I am able to value people to such a deep degree. Apparently, I exhib... C. JOYBELL C. She wasn't bitter. She was sad, though. But it was a hopeful kind of sad. The kind of sad that just ... STEPHEN CHBOSKY So, I guess we are who we are for alot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even... STEPHEN CHBOSKY I love my mom so much. I don't care if that's corny to say. I think on my next birthday, I'm going t... STEPHEN CHBOSKY We Are All Infinite STEPHEN CHBOSKY You can't just sit there and put everyone's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You ... STEPHEN CHBOSKY I saw other people there. Old men sitting alone. Young girls with blue eye shadow and awkward jaws. ... STEPHEN CHBOSKY That one moment when you know you are not a sad story. You are ALIVE. STEPHAN CHBOSKY Somos quienes somos por un montón de razones.Quizás nunca conozcamos la mayoría de ellas.Pero aun... STEPHEN CHBOSKY Ambos dijeron que tomara asiento y parecían hablar en serio, así que me senté. STEPHEN CHBOSKY I know these will all be stories some day, and our pictures will become old photographs. We all beco... STEPHEN CHBOSKY So I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybewe'll never know most of them. STEPHEN CHBOSKY So I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. STEPHEN CHBOSKY There's nothing like the deep breathes after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore st... STHEPHEN CHBOSKY no more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks, when the teacher rings the bell, drop... STEPHEN CHBOSKY I don't know the significance of this, but I find it very interesting. STEPHEN CHBOSKY Maybe it’s sad that these are now memories. And maybe it’s not sad. STEPHEN CHBOSKY Mother Superior jump the gun... -The Beatles, Happiness is a Warm Gun LAUREN MYRACLE It is a lie. ARTHUR MILLER Life is not a game. Still, in this life, we choose the games we live to play. J.R. RIM Reach out and help others. If you have the power to make someone happy, do it. Be a vessel, be the c... GERMANY KENT I'm fucking the grave, I thought, I'm bringing the dead back to life... CHARLES BUKOWSKI You're full of contradictions, Ms. Wallace." I looked up at him and arched a brow. "I'm a girl... TAMMARA WEBBER I was very grateful to have heard it again. Because I guess we all forget sometimes. And I think eve... STEPHEN CHBOSKY I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if... STEPHEN CHBOSKY We begin to fight. The wind and I. Horns locked. Battling each other with elements. LAURA DOCKRILL Wake up to a brand new day and realize why you woke up to meet the day! Live to the end of another d... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH Never give up on you. In order to make a difference you would have to somehow be different. JOHNNIE DENT JR. The only way he could have her was to shatter this stubborn faith of hers. In doing so, would he sha... FRANCINE RIVERS You release the pain of the past and press on. It's a new day, and God is doing a new thing. He want... CRAIG GROESCHEL Absoballylutely top hole, wot. A and B the C of D I'd say. . . Above and Beyond the Call of Duty. BRIAN JACQUES Well, you can't know it without something having been sneezed. A.A. MILNE We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet. Even longer,' Pooh answered.” ... A.A. MILNE A great future starts with what you can see SOTONYE ANGA Anyways, that very same night there was a fight in the casino on B Deck. Some of the passengers got ... CHRISTINA ENGELA the room of the spirit is the mind and the seat of the spirit is the heart. What we give room to muc... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH Oh happy day! A day to make a hay! And when it is mid-day, think about the day! And when you think a... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH I was suddenly very aware of the fact it was me standing up in that tunnel with the wind over my fac... STEPHEN CHBOSKY The only perspective is to really be there. STEPHEN CHBOSKY I didn't feel like reading that night, so I went downstairs and watched a half-hour long commercial ... STEPHEN CHBOSKY Why is England manufacturing bigger and better airplanes and bombs and at the same time churning out... ANNE FRANK If I provide for this life and turn away from the Lord, I am wise for a moment, but lost forever. FRANCINE RIVERS The only way he could have her was to shatter this stubborn faith of hers. In doing so, would he sha... FRANCINE RIVERS May I never neither turn left nor turn right in my journey of life, but may I go straight to Christ ... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH In a world in which the common rule which binds and regulates what the general masses feel is underm... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH For starters, that’s a rather simple principle of Time Travel right there – and according to the... CHRISTINA ENGELA The best thing you can do for your kids is to show them God working in you on a daily basis. CRAIG GROESCHEL The profound ability to use aural and written language has enabled our species to collectively explo... KATHERINE VUCICEVIC The fear of God is the only cure for the fear of people. CRAIG GROESCHEL It is an inherent property of intelligence that it can jump out of the task which it is perform... DOUGLAS HOFSTADTER When I die it will be game over,... but I know one life is short, to be selfish is not the best deci... DEYTH BANGER 2. Overcommitment and time pressure are the greatest destroyers of marriages. It takes time to devel... JAMES C. DOBSON Beaming into the thick of a tree without becoming a lifelong tree hugger was a tricky business. A pr... CHRISTINA ENGELA He wept because he was afraid now that he could not save Gabriel. He no longer cared about himself LOIS LOWRY Some people never take a chance and never know what it's like to live life to the full. CHLOE THURLOW I wish I was home", She said miserably. She tried so hard to be brave, to be fierce as a... GEORGE R.R. MARTIN From the Kindle Book Reflections in the Mirror of Life: “In a slum somewhere in India As... THE PROPHET OF LIFE Love is a growing, or full constant light, And his first minute, after noon, is night. JOHN DONNE To search the sands of a lost desert for truth and justice in this world today you might as well be ... GARY F EVANS... Was that me? Yes it was. Was that him? No it wasn't.. Just a trick of the woods! Just ... STEPHEN SONDHEIM Each man lives in his own universe and when he dies the world is over BANGAMBIKI HABYARIMANA The scientific method gives us
information by testing and repeating observable things so that we
can... LEWIS N. ROE You deserve to be with somebody, who knows you're the one, from that very first moment he lays eyes ... C. JOYBELL C. The universe is so vast, so immense, we can never expect to explore it all. It is in effect, not so ... CHRISTINA ENGELA Integrity is not everything, but it is the only thing that matters. JEFFREY FRY The battle is not physical, it is spiritual and your mind is the battleground. Keep your mind pure a... JEANETTE CORON All that the spider needs to complete its web is step taking ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH You silly," said Abdul, "those clouds don' mean nothing. I see'd them plenty a'ready. It was jus' co... THEO ENGELA The king may rule the kingdom, but it's the queen who moves the board. D.M. TIMNEY If you don't chance your arm, you'll never break your neck. DOROTHY MAY SNOERWANG-DOYLE 1927-2011 If I may I would like to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and give you a definition for each word. RED SKELTON The unfortunate thing is that, sometimes, we slip, but, fortunately, consciously or unconsciously, w... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH The mark of a real man, is a man who can allow himself to fall deeply in love with a woman. But the ... C. JOYBELL C. The Biggest Threat to our Democracy, Freedoms and Future is Leadership that fosters and Appeases the... MICHAEL HARRIS Your mind is a Microcosm of strength and power. There’s all the magic you need in it. When all els... CHINONYE J. CHIDOLUE I just want you to know that you’re very special… and the only reason I’m telling you is that ... STEPHEN CHBOSKY I thought I would write a love letter. But then, I wrote a book." - Suzy Davies, on "Johari's Window SUZY DAVIES The Dream of a Queer Fellow I write the words again and they appear doubly pregnant with meaning. It... JOHN MIDDLETON MURRY If you have read this far in the chronicle of the Baudelaire orphans - and I certainly hope you have... LEMONY SNICKET What is the Other?" they ask. The Other is the one who taught me whatI should be like, but not ... PAULO COELHO His face spreads into a warm smile. “As a matter of fact, no, I have never slept under the stars �... J.A. REDMERSKI The end of the world is a strange concept. The world is always ending, and the end is always being a... NEIL GAIMAN There are types of people who want to have leverage over other people's lives. For no other reason t... C. JOYBELL C. Here's a funny question: What is your favorite word? Think about it—maybe it... VERA NAZARIAN What will make you a star is in you SOTONYE ANGA They stay in my mind, these beautiful people, or anyway beautiful people to me, of which t... MARY OLIVER Passion makes a person stop eating, sleeping, working, feeling at peace. A lot of people are frighte... PAULO COELHO But God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love. Your place in heav... C.S. LEWIS There is always a good choice and there is always a better choice. There is always the best choice a... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH It was my teacher's genius, her quick sympathy, her loving tact which made the first years of ... HELEN KELLER You Have Seen the Cure for Cancer Many Times, Even Right Now! So the Problem is Not Finding a Cure, ... THEHEALTHFOODGURU What happened? It took Gibbon six volumes to describe the decline and fall of the Roman ... KENNETH CLARK She herself is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her ancestors sometimes come and peer ... ANGELA CARTER I feel so honored to be able to say "What I do is for my son" without that being an excuse to do stu... C. JOYBELL C. Weird makes you truly sexy in a way the world can never know. CRAIG GROESCHEL
More Tom Robbins
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TOM ROBBINS White folks have controlled New Orleans with money and guns, black folks have controlled it with mag... TOM ROBBINS One tended to lose one’s bearings in the presence of willful and persistent acts of craziness, and... TOM ROBBINS Well, Daddy, I used to believe that artists went crazy in the process of creating the beautiful work... TOM ROBBINS The one thing emphasized in any creative writing course is 'write what you know,' and that a... TOM ROBBINS We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves. TOM ROBBINS The highest function of love is that it makes the loved one a unique and irreplaceable being. TOM ROBBINS A child's mind is its living room; it's going to be residing there for the rest of its earth... TOM ROBBINS The sky was the color of Edgar Allan Poe's pajamas. TOM ROBBINS I went to a large consolidated school in Appalachia. And I wrote the story when I was in the second ... 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TOM ROBBINS The Friendship Center has brought together a lot of couples. TOM ROBBINS Ideas are mallable and unstable; they not only can be misused, they invite misuse---and the better t... TOM ROBBINS Wild Ducks Flying Backward. TOM ROBBINS In order to be respected, authority has got to be respectable. TOM ROBBINS We're proposing some stakes increases and more significant increases than the prior year. If the TOC... TOM ROBBINS Equality is not in regarding different things similarly, equality is in regarding different things d... TOM ROBBINS The best kisses, though, are those between lovers, because those are the consequential ones, the ris... TOM ROBBINS To some extent, Seattle remains a frontier metropolis, a place where people can experiment with thei... TOM ROBBINS Are you aware that rushing toward a goal is a sublimated death wish? It's no coincidence we call the... TOM ROBBINS In times of widespread chaos and confusion, it has been the duty of more advanced human beings--arti... 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TOM ROBBINS Often, moreover, it is...that aspect of our being that society finds eccentric, ridiculous, or disag... TOM ROBBINS You should never hesitate to trade your cow for a handful of magic beans. TOM ROBBINS The enemy of the black is not the white. The enemy of capitalist is not communist, the enemy of homo... TOM ROBBINS You've heard of people calling in sick. You may have called in sick a few times yourself. But have y... TOM ROBBINS Our world isn't made of earth, air and water or even molecules and atoms; our world is made of l... TOM ROBBINS Well, I believe life is a Zen koan, that is, an unsolvable riddle. But the contemplation of that rid... TOM ROBBINS If every time we choose a turd, society, at a great expense, simply allows us to redeem it for a pep... TOM ROBBINS Our greatest human adventure is the evolution of consciousness. We are in this life to enlarge the s... 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TOM ROBBINS As unrefined and basic as an animal's emotional equipment may be, it is not insensitive to freedom. ... TOM ROBBINS When they tell you to grow up, they mean stop growing. TOM ROBBINS Human folly does not impede the turning of the stars. TOM ROBBINS There are people in this world who can wear whale masks and people who cannot, and the wise know to ... TOM ROBBINS Beauty! Wasn't that what mattered? Beauty was hardly a popular ideal at that jumpy moment in history... TOM ROBBINS Death is impatient and thoughtless. It barges into your room when you are right in the middle of som... TOM ROBBINS I believe in political solutions to political problems. But man's primary problems aren't political;... TOM ROBBINS Those who possess wisdom cannot just ladle it out to every wantwit and jackanapes who comes along an... TOM ROBBINS Perhaps that is why desire causes men calamity. By identifying with our desires and taking them too ... TOM ROBBINS After the monkeys came down from the trees and learned to hurl sharp objects, they had had to move i... TOM ROBBINS I mean that gods do not limit men. Men limit men. TOM ROBBINS The Divine was beyond description, beyond knowing, beyond comprehension. To say that the Divine was ... TOM ROBBINS The Divine was expansive, but religion was reductive. Religion attempted to reduce the Divine to a k... TOM ROBBINS It is more important to be free than to be happy. TOM ROBBINS We're making it up. The world, the universe, life, reality. Especially reality. TOM ROBBINS Our lives are not as limited as we think they are; the world is a wonderfully weird place; consensua... TOM ROBBINS Religion is nothing but institutionalized mysticism. The catch is, mysticism does not lend itself to... TOM ROBBINS If New Orleans is not fully in the mainstream of culture, neither is it fully in the mainstream of t... TOM ROBBINS Bones are patient. Bones never tire nor do they run away. 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TOM ROBBINS There is no such thing as a weird human being, It's just that some people require more understanding... TOM ROBBINS If it is committed in the name of God or country, there is no crime so heinous that the public will ... TOM ROBBINS It's been a positive thing for us. I think it's excellent. TOM ROBBINS What is it that separates human beings from the so-called lower animals? Well, as I see it, its exac... TOM ROBBINS Should one be shallow enough to view existence as a system of rewards and punishments, one soon lear... TOM ROBBINS We had a lot of young players this season. I thought they have improved over the course of the year.... TOM ROBBINS There's always the same amount of good luck and bad luck in the world. If one person doesn't get the... TOM ROBBINS That's for God sure. People write memoirs because they lack the imagination to make things up. TOM ROBBINS Their desperate craving for simplicity sure can create complications. And their pitiful longing for ... TOM ROBBINS Who knows how to make love stay?Tell love you are going to the Junior's Deli on Flatbush Avenue in B... TOM ROBBINS Logic only gives man what he needs...Magic gives him what he wants. TOM ROBBINS The bottom line is that (a) people are never perfect, but love can be, (b) that is the one and only ... TOM ROBBINS When life demands more of people than they demand of life - as is ordinarily the case - what results... TOM ROBBINS To achieve the impossible; it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought. TOM ROBBINS The afternoon passed more slowly than a walnut-sized kidney stone. TOM ROBBINS Using words to describe magic is like using a screwdriver to cut roast beef TOM ROBBINS Religion is not merely the opium of the masses, it's the cyanide. TOM ROBBINS I've decided to take advantage of outsourcing. My next novel will be written by a couple of guys... TOM ROBBINS To be or not to be isn't the question. The question is how to prolong being. TOM ROBBINS On their sofas of spice and feathers, the concubines also slept fretfully. In those days the Earth w... TOM ROBBINS The brutal truth is, we're scarcely 'educating' children at all. Even if you overlook th... TOM ROBBINS Whether a man is a criminal or a public servant is purely a matter of perspective. TOM ROBBINS Alas, Gulietta, this was an American frog of the last quarter of the twentieth century, a time when ... TOM ROBBINS There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who believe there are two kinds of people in this... TOM ROBBINS Conversation between a princess and an outlaw: "If I stand for fairy-tale balls and dragon bai... TOM ROBBINS There are landscapes in which we feel above us not sky but space. Something larger, deeper than sky ... TOM ROBBINS If you believe in peace, act peacefully; if you believe in love, acting lovingly; if you believe eve... TOM ROBBINS Now tequila may be the favored beverage of outlaws but that doesn't mean it gives them preferential ... TOM ROBBINS But why diminish your soul being run-of-the-mill at something? Mediocrity: now there is ugliness for... TOM ROBBINS But do we know how to make love stay?' I can't even think about it. The best I can do is play i... TOM ROBBINS Disorder is inherent in stability. Civilized man doesn't understand stability. He's confused it with... TOM ROBBINS I am cheerful. I don't know if I'm happy. There is a difference, you know. TOM ROBBINS At the typewriter you find out who you are. TOM ROBBINS