Stupidity is the deliberate cultivation of ignorance.
William GaddisRead
He walked out into the cold morning asking himself this heretical question: Can you start measuring a minute at any instant you wish?
Interpretation
The quote questions the nature of time and our perception of it.
William Gaddis raises a profound philosophical question about the measurement and perception of time. By suggesting that one can start measuring a minute at any instant, he invites contemplation on the subjective nature of time and how our personal experiences can alter its meaning, emphasizing that time is not merely a fixed framework but rather a fluid concept shaped by individual perspective.
In practice
In a discussion about how personal experiences shape our understanding of time.
Stupidity is the deliberate cultivation of ignorance.
I see the player piano as the grandfather of the computer, the ancestor of the entire nightmare we live in, the birth of the binary world where there is no option other than yes or no and where there is no refuge.
Say a word, say a thousand to me on the telephone and I shall choose the wrong one to cling to as though you had said it after long deliberation when only I provoked it from you, I will cling to it from among a thousand, to be provoked and hurl it back with something I mean no more than you meant that, something for you to cling to and retreat clinging to.
How real is any of the past, being every moment revalued to make the present possible.
If you want to make a million you don't have to understand money, what you have to understand is people's fears about money
At one time my only wish was to be a police official. It seemed to me to be an occupation for my sleepless intriguing mind. I had the idea that there, among criminals, were people to fight: clever, vigorous, crafty fellows. Later I realized that it was good that I did not become one, for most police cases involve misery and wretchedness-not crimes and scandals.
Each finite creature can reflect only a fraction of the divine nature; thus, in the diversity of His creatures, God's infinity, unity and oneness appear to be broken into an effulfgence of manifold rays.
The sun too penetrates into privies, but is not polluted by them.
Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself. Impossible. Confusing. Frustrating ... but there are other ways to understanding.
Humanity is the higher meaning of our planet, the nerve that connects this part of it with the upper world, the eye it raises to heaven.
In Nicaragua, liberty, equality and the rule of law were the stuff of dreams. But in Paris I discovered the value of those words.
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