Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Quotes from "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" and "Alice in Wonderland"

"A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself"

-tragicomedy "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" by Tom Stoppard


Consider Lewis Carroll's mind-altering novel, "Alice in Wonderland":

Alice: Curiouser and curiouser!... I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!
Eaglet: Speak English! I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and I don't believe you do either!
Alice: I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir, because I'm not myself you see.
The Duchess: If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.
Alice: ...
The Cat: We're all mad here.
The Hatter: Why is a raven like a writing desk?
The Hatter: Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at.
The Queen: Off with her head!
The Duchess: Tut, tut, child! Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.
The Duchess: Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.
The Mock Turtle: We called him Tortoise because he taught us.
The Mock Turtle: Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of arithmetic -- Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.
The Mock Turtle: Well, I never heard it before, but it sounds uncommon nonsense.
The King: Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Alice: I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it.
The Queen: Sentence first -- verdict afterwards.
Alice: ...But then, shall I never get any older than I am now? That'll be a comfort, one way -- never to be an old woman -- but then -- always to have lessons to learn!

1 comment:

Paul G. said...

What are you trying to say about this Rozencrantz and Guildenstern?