“Personally, I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.”
“I only believe in statistics that I doctored myself.”
“Safari, so goody.”
“In politics, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” (Perhaps not from Churchill)
There is always something to be learned by listening to someone who has a better command of the language than we do. It is the liguistically gifted person who many times leaves us wondering, "Now why didn't I think of that."
I admired my maternal grandfather for the way he could get get the most out of language by simply modulating the intonation of his voice. For him, this was a way of making either a humorous postulation or a final, sharp tipped point.
I'll never forget his favorite way to put down people who did not appreciate/understand the successful achievements of professional, hardworking members of the community. I have to translate from the original French: "Happy the poor in spirit (wink, wink)
for the Kingdom of heaven shall be theirs." (Matt 5 - Beatitudes)
It's like Churchill said about Clement Attlee, "...he has much to be modest about."
So, these are not oximorons, but because they are challenging, I couldn't leave the opportunity pass me by.
So, what's the point? It is this: be prepared to appreciate the truth in the form that it presents itself to you ... prepare to be confronted by it in some strange places and in some strange ways. Be ready.
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