“The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.”

— Robert Lynd, writer (1879-1949)

“The wicked London tavern – thieves and drabs
To affront the blessed hillside drabs and thieves
With mended morals, quotha — fine new lives!”

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning; Aurora Leigh; 19th c.

“Quotha” means “indeed.” Pronounced (KWO-thuh). It is an interjection. (“Shows excitement/and emotion/hallelujah/hallelujah/hallEEELUUUUUJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Remember Schoolhouse Rock?)

I swiped this word and quote from A-Word-A-Day, which has been one of my favorite daily e’s for a few years now. Subscriptions are free, but they do accept donations. Anu Garg, the webmaster, is an awfully nice man. Sometimes he tells cute stories about his kid, plus he’s a computer geek, and you know I like computer geeks.

http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/

“In Hollywood, true love means never having to say, ‘What do you mean my picture is buried on Page 18 of the tabloids?’ So yes, moi believes that Tom and Katie have something real.”

— Miss Piggy, Muppet

“Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it.”

– -Tallulah Bankhead, actress (1903-1968)

“The bluebird carries the sky on his back.”

— Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

“i make milk. what’s your superpower?”

“To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; Whenever you’re right, shut up.”
— Ogden Nash, author (1902-1971)

“The music than can deepest reach, / And cure all ill, is cordial speech.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

And a tongue twister:

A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.

“I stuck the letter back in the envelope, Scotch-taped it together, and readdressed it to Buddy, without putting on a new stamp. I thought the message was worth a good three cents.

Then I decided I would spend the summer writing a novel. That would fix a lot of people.”

— “The Bell Jar”
Sylvia Plath

Yes, i’m going to spend the summer writing a novel. And not stick my head in the oven.

ttfn,

WM

“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around — nobody big, I mean — except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff — I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye. I know it; I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be. I know it’s crazy.”

— J.D. Salinger, “Catcher in the Rye”