Your friend Jim George thinks you'd be a great addition to Ricochet, so we'd like to offer you a special deal: You can become a member for no initial charge for one month!
Ricochet is a community of like-minded people who enjoy writing about and discussing politics (usually of the center-right nature), culture, sports, history, and just about every other topic under the sun in a fully moderated environment. We’re so sure you’ll like Ricochet, we’ll let you join and get your first month for free. Kick the tires: read the always eclectic member feed, write some posts, join discussions, participate in a live chat or two, and listen to a few of our over 50 (free) podcasts on every conceivable topic, hosted by some of the biggest names on the right, for 30 days on us. We’re confident you’re gonna love it.
“Our work is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor for the philosopher, but for the reader of English literature, of either sex, who wishes to comprehend the allusions so frequently made by public speakers, lecturers, essayists, and poets, and those which occur in polite conversation.”–Thomas Bulfinch
Another Dorothy Parker, one of my favorites since college: “The woman speaks eight languages and can’t say ‘no’ in any of them.”
Bulfinch’s was one of our textbooks in freshman English.
Abe Lincoln: “If this is coffee, please bring me tea. If this is tea, please bring me coffee.”
I went to a more progressive school. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, by Edith Hamilton (1942). It was only about thirty years old when I got to it.
FYI: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4928
Churchill had a million of ’em. There was one exchange between him and George Bernard Shaw, where Shaw told him he was giving him two tickets to his new play, and that he could “Bring a friend. If you have any.” And Churchill said he’d attend on the second night “if there is one.”
We also had Hamilton.
I love that one. Churchill was peerless in the insult department, even if it first appeared he was on the losing end. There’s the one with Nancy Astor:
or, failing that, the other one with Nancy Astor:
If I know Bullfinch, and trust me, I have seen a lot of Bullfinch, that is a full load of Bullfinch.
This is the Quote of the Day. If you have a quotation you would like to share, we have several openings left in June. Why not sign up today?
I certainly do.
OK, Here it is. “Baucis and Philemon.” The old, grizzled couple who take in Zeus and Hermes (Jupiter/Mercury), who are desperate for a place to sleep, having been rejected by all others in the town that night. It’s a version of “be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares–Hebrews 13:2” and since, over the years, I’ve written three very different posts on this topic:
http://ricochet.com/228745/archives/november-22-surprise-entertaining-angels-four-legged-ones-mostly/
http://ricochet.com/566800/archives/quote-of-the-day-entertaining-angels/
http://ricochet.com/718689/entertaining-angels-the-lamb-in-the-living-room/
I think I get to own it.
Lady Astor: Winston, if you were my husband, I would put poison in your coffee.
Winston Churchill: Madam, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.
Until @kentforrester comes along and steals it.
Ha, ha. I wouldn’t think of such a thing. I noticed you used “criminently,” Mrs. She. You owe me ten cents.
Crimenutely, Kent. You’d never do such a thing.
That’s twenty cents you owe me now.
I think my first exposure to the Greek myths was through the illustrated D’Aulaires version, followed by another one once I reached sufficient age (wasn’t Bullfinch or Hamilton, but I do not remember the author). I don’t know as if I have a favorite myth though – each has its charms (so to speak) depending on how it is told. CS Lewis’s Till We Have Faces brings the story of Psyche and Cupid to life in a way that I’ve seen in no other telling of that myth. Orpheus is heartbreaking.
I’m bad at remembering quips. I don’t remember where I first heard this one, but it works: “if you’re going to eavesdrop, at least pay attention.”
I love to quote some of my born and bred in Texas husband’s sayings. One of his favorites, when referring to a particularly supercilious individual was “He’s ten pounds lighter than a straw hat.”
That is a high standard.
Pogo: “If it was coal, it wasn’t bad. . .If it was licorice, it was terrible.”
I’m reading, well, listening to, “Mythos” by Stephen Fry. I’m enjoying it a lot.
You guys are having too much fun. Go back to social distancing. Which term has earned its place ahead of political correctness in uselessness.
We have a Shakespearean insult mug, purchased in a tourist shop in Seattle. One of our family favorites from the mug is: “I do desire we may be better strangers.” From As You Like It. It sounds like such a polite way to socially-distance. You can also try, “it’s not you, it’s COVID.”
One of my favorites (appropriate for the PIT) is from the movie Roxanne where the mayor salutes the townspeople after they put out the fire: “I’d rather be with you people than the finest people in the world!”
And we’d rather you join us in the PIT.
I don’t recall ever having to look up anything in Bulfinches Mythology from either polite or crude conversation. Hahaha, what a great essay. Who would have thought of turning that innocuous, throw-away phrase into a sparkling piece. She, you are among the best essayists here.
Thank you, @manny. You made my day!
Oh don’t be such a pushover, Mrs. She.
I always loved that some anti-federalist Senators called John Adams “His Rotundity”.
Crimenutely, @kentforrester. Flattery will get you everywhere. You know that, otherwise you wouldn’t post so many trolling photos of Bob.