Most people know I'm a quotes guy. I love 'em. Probably that English major inside. I don't know what it is, but I love that people (famous, smart people) contradict themselves all the time and it's caught in the annals of history for all to share. I'm always amazed by what people say now - especially in contrast to what people said then.
I was looking into Shakespearean Insults (something I love, personally, and will come to later) and came across my files from some of the research for the upcoming book. Interesting quotes that I never associated with the thing.
From Franz Kafka:
A man of action forced into a state of thought is unhappy until he can get out of it.
God gives us nuts, but he does not crack them.
Heaven is dumb, echoing only the dumb.
It's fascinating to me that I never paid more attention to these at the time. Just sort of glanced over them. These three quotes really echo the themes of NAKED METAMORPHOSIS.
From William S. Burroughs:
I don't care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do.
Every man has inside himself a parasitic being who is acting not at all to his advantage.
A paranoid is a person who knows little of what's going on.
Again, major thematic statements about NAKED METAMORPHOSIS. Too, major statements about Hamlet. All could be interjected in a thesis on Shakespeare's Danish Prince. Fascinating...or maybe not.
Now, onto quotable Shakespeare...
Most know I'm a buff. I love the guy. Why? It's not the floral arrangement English he chose to use. Nor is it the pendulous swing from comedy to tragedy. No, I love Shakespeare 'cause he was a controversialist and, perhaps, one of the first bizarro writers.
His ideas were sweeping fantasies, just about always including an element of the supernatural. But beyond that veneer, Shakespeare pushed the envelope of proper heftily. The stories are bawdy, dirty, borderline pornographic. If most High School students caught the innuendos and references, they'd eat it up like crack.
There were definite devices that Shakespeare employed: mistaken identities, long lost love, the supernatural, situational comedy of errors, mental illness as humor, questionable morals, strong female characters (played by men, but the female characters are some of the most fascinating in literature). All these devices make it into NAKED METAMORPHOSIS. I'm happy about that.
Don't believe me about the Shakespeare thing? I'm pretty sure (...and by pretty sure, I mean like Wikipedia pretty sure) that the Bard perfected the insult.
Take these for instance:
"You impertinent, hell-hated malcontent!"
Not too shabby, eh?
What about: "Infectious, tardy-gaited Basket-Cockle!"
Not too sure what Basket-Cockle is, or tardy-gaited, but I've incorporated them into my vocab!Here the Bard goes straight for the juggular: "Wart-necked, fat-kidneyed canker-blossom!" I think I knew a girl in High School who fell into that category.
My favorite, though, is "beef-witted whore master!"
So as I'm signing, I feel it is my obligation to educate the masses. You may receive a Shakespearean insult in the front cover. Don't worry, I'm not insulting you. Well, I am. But it's in the name of education.
Enjoy...you filthy scuts!
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