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11 Sep 06 - 08:16 PM (#1832246) Subject: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Elmer Fudd I have been reading a book about paradoxes and oxymorons, "Oxymoronica," by Mardy Grothe, filled with wonderful quotations. There have been threads with two-word oxymorons, but none with full sentences with paradoxical or oxymoronic meanings. Paradox: from ancient Greek, "para," = beyond, and "doxa,"= opinion Oxymoron: also from ancient Greek, "oxus," sharp or pointed, and "oros" = dull or stupid The author writes, "Paradox is a particularly powerful device to ensnare truth because it concisely illuminates the contradictions that are at the very heart of our lives. It engages our hearts and minds because, beyond its figurative employment, paradox has always been at the center of the human condition. 'Man's real life,' wrote Carl Jung, 'consists of a complex of inexorable opposites—day and night, birth and death, happiness and misery, good and evil. If it were not so, existence would come to an end.' Paradox was a fact of life long before it became a literary device. Who among us has not experienced something ugly in everything beautiful, something true in everything false, something female in everything male, or, as King Claudius says in Shakespeare's Hamlet, 'mirth in funeral' and 'dirge in marriage?'" A handful of quotations from the book: Melancholy is the pleasure of being sad. –- Victor Hugo Fewer things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. –- Mark Twain. The greatest power available to man is not to use it. –- Meister Eckhart Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do.-- Edgar Degas You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap. –- Dolly Parton I knew her before she was a virgin. –- Oscar Levant, about Doris Day Paradoxes anyone? Elmer |
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11 Sep 06 - 09:51 PM (#1832288) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Joe_F Most of the evil in the world comes from nature, and most of the ugliness comes from art. Deficient contact with reality is called mania. Excessived contact with reality is called depression. Sex is an impediment to reproduction whose function is to complicate life. Be sincere: fool yourself first. If there were enough doctors, we'd all be sick. First you go to hell, then your body rots, and then you die. Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do. Too lively, and you're dead. Every number is very small: almost all numbers are very much larger. The distinction between qualitative and quantitative differences is one of degree. Blessed are they who expect nothing, for surely they shall not be disappointed. We go straight from being smarter than the old folks to being wiser than the young folks. Eager to please, and a nuisance. Easy to please, and a comfort. We hate those whom we cannot afford to despise, and we love those whom we cannot afford to hate. Men are luckier than women: they marry later and die sooner. A bank will lend you money if you can prove you don't need it. "That is true, but it is not important." "Importance is not important. Truth is." When a Scotsman moves to England, he raises the average of intelligence in both countries. The things you think when you're not thinking! Ten bums lay in the sun; a passer-by offered a dollar to whichever was laziest; nine jumped up to claim it. Masochist: "Hurt me!" Sadist: "No." This is the best of all possible worlds, and everything in it is a necessary evil. What is fascinating in a mirror? A world I am not at the center of. The most valuable losers are ahead most of the time. Prose: Earth is turning us into its shadow. Poetry: The sun is setting. I wish I had never been born -- but who has such luck? Not one in ten thousand. To say we have a duty to believe something is to give evidence against it. I can state with complete confidence that I'll never amount to anything. Does this question entail that there exists at least one question? No human is truly alien; that is, no alien is truly human. You find out what's really wrong with an idea when it succeeds. A secret is something you tell one person at a time. It is the duty of a patriot to protect his country from its government. I reckon there's more things told than are true, And more things true than are told. "I need a man who can say no to me when I talk nonsense. Are you that man?" "No." If you handle other people's money, you must pay yourself well to protect yourself from the temptation to steal. It is easier to forgive people who bore us than people we bore. The trouble with competitions is that somebody wins them. The difference between theory and practice: in theory there is no difference; in practice there is. Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truths. The complete lack of evidence is the surest sign that the conspiracy is working. The floggings will continue until morale improves. To be omniscient, one must know a great deal that is not so. Let S be the sentence "If S is true, then I am the Pope". Suppose S is true; then if S is true, I am the Pope; but S is true, so I am the Pope. Hence, the supposition that S is true implies that I am the Pope, which is just the statement of S. Hence, S is true. Hence, I am the Pope. |
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11 Sep 06 - 10:59 PM (#1832314) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Elmer Fudd Holy Toledo, Joe F! Where'd you get all those? For prying into human affairs, none are equal to those whom it does not concern. -- Victor Hugo People are least sure when they are most dogmatic. -- John Kenneth Galbraith. There is more to life than having everything -- Maurice Sendak I am deeply superficial. -- Ava Gardner I think we all have a need to know what we do not need to know. -- William Safire. When someone says, "Please don't be offended by what I'm about to say," it is a surety that it is going to be something offensive. |
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11 Sep 06 - 11:12 PM (#1832322) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: John O'L Please don't be offended by what I'm about to say... reminds me of "I'm not racist, but..." "Lady Thatcher" is one of my favourite oxymorons. |
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11 Sep 06 - 11:17 PM (#1832325) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Bill D "Poetry builds a great truth out of many small lies. Politics builds a great lie out of many small truths." Paul Lutus |
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11 Sep 06 - 11:18 PM (#1832327) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Rapparee Ain't Oxymoronica Penelopre Rutledge's neice or nephew or something? |
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11 Sep 06 - 11:58 PM (#1832342) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: GUEST,Rowan A favourite paradox is "All things are relative." Cheers, Rowan |
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12 Sep 06 - 12:46 AM (#1832369) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: DougR Elmer: I think the mistake you may have made is reading a book. DougR |
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12 Sep 06 - 02:28 AM (#1832398) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Dave Hanson The meek shall inherit the earth, if thats alright with the rest of you. eric |
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12 Sep 06 - 11:48 AM (#1832722) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: dick greenhaus His depth is all on the surface. Down deep, he's really very shallow. |
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12 Sep 06 - 01:14 PM (#1832785) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Bill D All sweeping generalizations are suspect and misleading. |
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12 Sep 06 - 02:40 PM (#1832841) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: GUEST,Mrr Anything by Yogi Berra (if you can't hear the difference you must be blind) Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. |
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12 Sep 06 - 02:52 PM (#1832852) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: GUEST,Mrr The only person on the scene missing was the jack of hearts (Bob Dylan) |
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12 Sep 06 - 03:04 PM (#1832858) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Elmer Fudd Yeah, Yogi Berra was the king of the paradox. Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded. |
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12 Sep 06 - 03:07 PM (#1832860) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: frogprince I doubt that you can find another paradox to equal the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. |
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12 Sep 06 - 06:58 PM (#1833035) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Mr Happy ...........recall the maths ones when doing 'O' levels aeons ago. Any whole number divided by itself = 1 so 1/1 = 1 & 0/0 = 1 infinity/infinity = 1 Also indices or 'powers' of numbers, any number raised to power 0 = 1 so a billion squillion to power/index 0 = 1 & 0 to power 0 = 1 Division: any number divided by 0 = infinity 1/0 = infinity Zero divided by anything = 0 except 0/0 = 1 |
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12 Sep 06 - 07:12 PM (#1833047) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Don(Wyziwyg)T "I am a consistent liar" ZENO'S PARADOX, reputed to have sent early computers into catatonia when they were tasked to analyse it(probably apochryphal). Don T. |
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12 Sep 06 - 09:02 PM (#1833120) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Joe_F If there was twelve cows lying in a field, and only one of them was standing up, that one would be the bull. (Possibly the original Irish bull.) |
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12 Sep 06 - 09:59 PM (#1833158) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: GUEST Well, it's six of one and a dozen of the other. |
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12 Sep 06 - 10:03 PM (#1833160) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: bobad You can't get there from here = paradox Married life = oxymoron |
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12 Sep 06 - 10:08 PM (#1833166) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: GUEST Microsoft Works = oxymoron Paradox here. |
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12 Sep 06 - 10:47 PM (#1833189) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Elmer Fudd DougR, if the mistake I made was reading a book, then I've made an awful lot of 'em. a few more: Everybody knows how to raise children except the people who have them. -- P.J. O'Rourke. I wasn't really naked. I simply didn't have any clothes on. -- Josephine Baker You must understand that this is not a woman's dress I'm wearing. It's a man's dress. -- David Bowie, on being asked why he wore a dress |
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13 Sep 06 - 01:10 AM (#1833255) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: John O'L I doubt that you can find another paradox to equal the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. What about a one-dimensional string? |
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13 Sep 06 - 01:38 AM (#1833263) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: The Fooles Troupe I thought strings all needed at least twelve dimensions... |
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13 Sep 06 - 08:23 AM (#1833429) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Grab Any country with the word "democratic" in its title *isn't*. |
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13 Sep 06 - 10:14 AM (#1833505) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: GUEST,Mrr Well, if we're going to get political... Military intelligence. |
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13 Sep 06 - 10:39 AM (#1833520) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: GUEST,Bruce Baillie ...Take my advice, NEVER listen to people who give you advice... |
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13 Sep 06 - 10:49 AM (#1833525) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Mo the caller Heard this on radio4. Dont suppose its a paradox or oxymoron but anyway... What is the difference between an entomologist and an etymologist? An etymolologist knows |
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13 Sep 06 - 10:52 AM (#1833531) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Mo the caller Mr. Happy, what was that one where you used algebra to prove that 1=2? |
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13 Sep 06 - 03:28 PM (#1833730) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Liz the Squeak Civil Servant..... LTS |
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13 Sep 06 - 05:45 PM (#1833844) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Mrrzy Also, heard on a movie review - "performances in this film were uniformly outstanding." I sat there and thought... UNIFORMLY outstanding? Uniformly OUTSTANDING? I mean, if they were uniform, then none stood out... I felt like the android (Norman! Coordinate!) in that Star Trek where he's first told that "everything Mudd says is a lie" and then Mudd, wickedly twinkling, says "I am lying..." |
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13 Sep 06 - 06:04 PM (#1833855) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Elmer Fudd If you aren't confused by quantum physics then you really haven't understood it. -- Niels Bohr What most of us are after when we have our picture taken is a natural-looking picture that doesn't resemble us. -- Peg Bracken Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end. -- Igor Stravinsky Elmer |
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13 Sep 06 - 09:10 PM (#1833967) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: dick greenhaus The trouble with computer programing is that constants aren't and variables won't. The only way to lose data is to save what you're doing. |
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13 Sep 06 - 09:58 PM (#1833992) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Bill D "If the lessons of history teach us anything it is that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us." |
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13 Sep 06 - 10:15 PM (#1834006) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Joe_F Whatever has "science" in its name isn't. |
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13 Sep 06 - 10:27 PM (#1834013) Subject: RE: BS: Paradoxical statements and oxymoronica From: Bill D from Ashleigh Brilliant: "As long as I have you, I can endure all the troubles you inevitably bring." |
