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
What this quote means
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.
Themes
TimePerceptionPhilosophyQuestionSubjectivity
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about how personal experiences shape our understanding of time.
More from William Gaddis
All quotes βI 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.
William GaddisRead
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.
William GaddisRead
How real is any of the past, being every moment revalued to make the present possible.
William GaddisRead
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
William GaddisRead
Similar quotes
I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure - that is all that agnosticism means.
Clarence DarrowRead
And sometimes you didn't want to know the end⦠because how could the end be happy?
J. R. R. TolkienRead
Animals are sentient, intelligent, perceptive, funny and entertaining. We owe them a duty of care as we do to children.
Michael MorpurgoRead
Language is never fully trustworthy, but when it comes to eating animals, words are as often used to misdirect and camouflage as they are to communicate. Some words, like veal, help us forget what we are actually talking about. Some, like free-range, can mislead those whose consciences seek clarification. Some, like happy, mean the opposite of what they would seem. And some, like natural, mean next to nothing.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
What is this word that broke through the fence of your teeth, Atreides?
HomerRead
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creeds into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.
Robert A. HeinleinRead