The librarians were mysterious. It was said they could tell what book you needed just by looking at you, and they could take your voice away with a word.
Interpretation
Librarians have an almost magical ability to connect people with the right books.
This quote suggests that librarians possess a unique intuition that allows them to understand people's needs and preferences when it comes to literature. Their knowledge is portrayed as powerful, hinting at an almost supernatural skill in guiding individuals toward the resources they require, while also emphasizing the transformative power of books.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of libraries in schools, this quote can illustrate the unique role of librarians.
And then Jack chopped down what was the world's last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement, and trespass charges already mentioned, and all the giant's children didn't have a daddy anymore. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after, without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done...which proves that you can be excused for just about anything if you are a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.
They've got something they do it with, I think it's called a mocracy, and it means everyone in the whole country can say who the new Tyrant is. One man ... one vet. ... Everyone has ... the vet. Except for women, of course. And children. And criminals. And slaves. And stupid people. And people of foreign extraction. And people disapproved of for, er, various reasons. And lots of other people. But everyone apart from them. It's a very enlightened civilization.
Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it.
You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a meaningful look.
Any fool could be a witch with a runic knife, but it took skill to be one with an apple corer.
People look down on stuff like geography and meteorology, and not only because they're standing on one and being soaked by the other. They don't look quite like real science. But geography is only physics slowed down and with a few trees stuck on it, and meteorology is full of excitingly fashionable chaos and complexity. And summer isn't a time. It's a place as well. Summer is a moving creature and likes to go south for the winter.
Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men.
I have cried even when the laugh did choke me. But no more think that I am all sorry when I cry, for the laugh he come just the same. Keep it always with you that laughter who knock at your door and say, βMay I come in?β is not true laughter. No! He is a king, and he come when and how he like. He ask no person, he choose no time of suitability. He say, βI am here.
Past is dead Future is uncertain; Present is all you have, So eat, drink and live merry.
Firmness in support of fundamentals, with flexibility in tactics and methods, is the key to any hope of progress in negotiation.
The Devil is easy to identify. He appears when you're terribly tired and makes a very reasonable request which you know you shouldn't grant.
Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.
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