One more thing



And one more thing:

Quisquis huc accedes
Quod tibi horrendum videtur
Mihi amoenum est
Si dilectat maneas
Si taedat abeas
Utrumque gratum


You who come here
Whoever you are
What may seem horrible to you
Is fine for me
If you like it stay
If it bores you go
I couldn’t care less.


(From the inscription that appears in Latin on a marble plaque at the entrance to Cardinal Chigi’s 17th century Villa Cetinale, at Sovicelli in Tuscany, discovered and translated by John Julius Norwich in “Still More Christmas Crackers – 1990-1999,” [Viking, Penguin Group UK]).




Thursday, July 5, 2012

Brown's paraprosdokians


My friend Alex Brown has sent me some delightful paraprosdokians, shared herewith:




 Where there's a will, I want to be in it.

The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

 Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

 If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

 We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

 War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

 In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, Notify:' I put 'DOCTOR'.

Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

  Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

 You're never too old to learn something stupid.

(The last of these offers an excellent example of ways in which a comma can change all meaning:  You’re never too old to learn something, stupid. GJP)

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