Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.
Anthony BurgessRead
There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening.
Interpretation
This quote introduces a character and his friends engaging in thoughtful deliberation about their plans for the evening.
In this opening line from Anthony Burgess's 'A Clockwork Orange', the character Alex presents himself and his companions, known as 'droogs'. The setting in the 'Korova Milkbar' suggests a place of social gathering where they ponder their choices for the evening, reflecting on themes of friendship, youth rebellion, and the moral implications of their decisions.
In practice
This quote can be used to open a discussion about youth culture and choices in modern society.
Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.
There is a satisfactory boniness about grammar which the flesh of sheer vocabulary requires before it can become a vertebrate and walk the earth.
Violence among young people is an aspect of their desire to create. They don't know how to use their energy creatively so they do the opposite and destroy.
Only in England is the perversion of language regarded as a victory for democracy.
You needn't take it any further, sir. You've proved to me that all this ultraviolence and killing is wrong, wrong, and terribly wrong. I've learned me lesson, sir. I've seen now what I've never seen before. I'm cured! Praise Bog! I'm cured!
It may not be nice to be good, little 6655321. It may be horrible to be good. And when I say that to you I realize how self-contradictory that sounds. I know I shall have many sleepless nights about this. What does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him? Deep and hard questions, little 6655321.
All my writing is about the recognition that there is no single reality. But the beauty of it is that you nevertheless go on, walking towards utopia, which may not exist, on a bridge which might end before you reach the other side.
The suburbs dream of violence.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation.
What sense or thought do they have? They follow the popular singers, and they take the crowd as their teacher.
A house built on granite and strong foundations, not even the onslaught of pouring rain, gushing torrents and strong winds will be able to pull down. Some people have written the story of my life representing as truth what in fact derives from ignorance, error or envy; but they cannot shake the truth from its place, even if they attempt to make others believe it.
Understanding the simple fact that morality differs around the world, and even within societies, is the first step toward understanding your righteous mind.
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