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Because everybody on the school board, and the railroad, and the PTA and paper mill had to be somebody's mother or father, whether really or as a member of a category; and there was a point at which the reflex to their covering warmth, protection, effectiveness against bad dreams, bruised heads and simple loneliness took over and made worthwhile anger with them impossible.
Thomas Pynchon Slow Learner: Early Stories
by Thomas Pynchon
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In the quote from Thomas Pynchon's "Slow Learner: Early Stories," the author reflects on the interconnectedness of community members, emphasizing that everyone in positions of influence, such as the school board or local organizations, plays a parental role. This collective identity as caregivers fosters a sense of warmth and protection that complicates any feelings of anger towards them. Instead of viewing these individuals as separate entities, Pynchon suggests they are unified...

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Slow Learner: Early Stories
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Thomas Pynchon
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Other quotes in Slow Learner: Early Stories

Everyone is told to write about what he knows. The problem for many of us is that in youth we believe we know everything or, to put it in a more useful way, we often do not know the scope and structure of our ignorance, which is not just a blank space on the mental map of A person, but has contours and coherence and, from what I know, also has its norms.
Thomas Pynchon Slow Learner: Early Stories
Everyone is told to write about what he knows. The problem for many of us is that in youth we believe we know everything or, to put it in a more useful way, we often do not know the scope and structure of our ignorance, which is not just a blank space on the mental map of A person, but has contours and coherence and, from what I know, also has its norms.
But as we all know, rock 'n' roll will never die, and education too, as Henry Adams always sez, keeps going on forever.
Thomas Pynchon Slow Learner: Early Stories
But as we all know, rock 'n' roll will never die, and education too, as Henry Adams always sez, keeps going on forever.
What I mean is something like a closed circuit. Everybody on the same frequency. And after a while you forget about the rest of the spectrum and start believing that this is the only frequency that counts or is real. While outside, all up and down the land, there are these wonderful colors and x-rays and ultraviolets going on.
Thomas Pynchon Slow Learner: Early Stories
What I mean is something like a closed circuit. Everybody on the same frequency. And after a while you forget about the rest of the spectrum and start believing that this is the only frequency that counts or is real. While outside, all up and down the land, there are these wonderful colors and x-rays and ultraviolets going on.
This advice has been given often and more compellingly elsewhere, but my specific piece of wrong procedure back then was, incredibly, to browse through the thesaurus and note words that sounded cool, hip, or likely to produce an effect, usually that of making me look good, without then taking the trouble to go and find out in the dictionary what they meant
Thomas Pynchon Slow Learner: Early Stories
This advice has been given often and more compellingly elsewhere, but my specific piece of wrong procedure back then was, incredibly, to browse through the thesaurus and note words that sounded cool, hip, or likely to produce an effect, usually that of making me look good, without then taking the trouble to go and find out in the dictionary what they meant
Because everybody on the school board, and the railroad, and the PTA and paper mill had to be somebody's mother or father, whether really or as a member of a category; and there was a point at which the reflex to their covering warmth, protection, effectiveness against bad dreams, bruised heads and simple loneliness took over and made worthwhile anger with them impossible.
Thomas Pynchon Slow Learner: Early Stories
Because everybody on the school board, and the railroad, and the PTA and paper mill had to be somebody's mother or father, whether really or as a member of a category; and there was a point at which the reflex to their covering warmth, protection, effectiveness against bad dreams, bruised heads and simple loneliness took over and made worthwhile anger with them impossible.
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Other quotes in book quote

They are afraid of him?' D'Harcourt raised his comedian's eyebrows. Danny Hislop's bright teeth flashed in his hairless, unremarkable face. 'If they were afraid, they'd tear him to pieces like schoolgirls. My guess is that he's gorgeous. A terrible tease and nasty at moments, but oh Maeve, he has such a way with him.… Is he gorgeous, dear Adam?' Adam Blacklock, thus addressed, said quietly, 'Undoubtedly gorgeous.
Dorothy Dunnett The Ringed Castle
They are afraid of him?' D'Harcourt raised his comedian's eyebrows. Danny Hislop's bright teeth flashed in his hairless, unremarkable face. 'If they were afraid, they'd tear him to pieces like schoolgirls. My guess is that he's gorgeous. A terrible tease and nasty at moments, but oh Maeve, he has such a way with him.… Is he gorgeous, dear Adam?' Adam Blacklock, thus addressed, said quietly, 'Undoubtedly gorgeous.
Henry of England had all the virtues and all the faults, and solved the contradiction by making scapegoats and sin-eaters of half his entourage.
Dorothy Dunnett The Game of Kings
Henry of England had all the virtues and all the faults, and solved the contradiction by making scapegoats and sin-eaters of half his entourage.
It isn't that music doesn't matter: the reverse, as it happens. So my defences against it are very strong. Can you understand that?
Dorothy Dunnett Pawn in Frankincense
It isn't that music doesn't matter: the reverse, as it happens. So my defences against it are very strong. Can you understand that?
The drink was almost certainly safe. He would probably get pleurisy, quinsy and pox from the cup.
Dorothy Dunnett Pawn in Frankincense
The drink was almost certainly safe. He would probably get pleurisy, quinsy and pox from the cup.
Happiness, that most childish of states, is infectious. Furthermore, in its innocence, it will not be hidden, even when tempered with sorrow
Dorothy Dunnett Gemini
Happiness, that most childish of states, is infectious. Furthermore, in its innocence, it will not be hidden, even when tempered with sorrow
The Buke of Ye Chess used the game as the basis for a series of sermons on morality. Neither book illustrates play or player improvement, but uses the chessboard and pieces to 'allegorize a political community whose citizens contribute to the common good'2.
Laura Caine Ramsey The Ultimate Guide to Dorothy Dunnett's The Game of Kings
The Buke of Ye Chess used the game as the basis for a series of sermons on morality. Neither book illustrates play or player improvement, but uses the chessboard and pieces to 'allegorize a political community whose citizens contribute to the common good'2.
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