Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Social Semiotics

Remember at all times: it’s not for Jesus to hail himself as Christ; first John has to recognize him, then Peter, then Paul, then the rest of us.
God is whatever we’re all pointing at.

It’s not for Beethoven to know he’s great; first the duke has to tell him, then the public, then posterity.
Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh ... have no right to an opinion: until the museum puts up a plaque.
Einstein wasn’t smart, Relativity wasn’t true: until Life Magazine said so.

As my sister’s friend’s much younger brother said: "Leonardo can’t be a genius; because it he were a genius, he’d be famous."

If you see the Buddha, kill him.

Society relies on the golden goose being immortal no matter how many times we kill it. My particular pessimism relies on the public getting cancer irreversibly before it stops smoking.

I suspect that Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Conrad ... would agree with me: the smartest of us was an idiot.

And what God is is none of our affair.

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