Quotes by Verbs [On her recently widowed father's much younger wife:] My father has been very busy in conjugating the verb to love, and I assure you he declines its moods and tenses inimitably. Abby May Alcott verbswifefather To knot a sentence up properly, it has to be thought out carefully, and revised. New phrases have to be put in; sudden changes of subject must be introducted; verbs must be shifted to unsuspected localities; short words must be excised with ruthless hand; archaisms must be sprinkled like sugar-plums upon the concoction; the fatal human tendency to say things straightforwardly must be detected and defeated by adroit reversals; and, if a glimmer of meaning yet remain under close scrutiny, it must be removed by replacing all the principal verbs by paraphrases in some dead language. Aleister Crowley plumsverbshands J, n. A consonant in English, but some nations use it as a vowel . . . from a Latin verb, "jacere", "to throw," because when a stone is thrown at a dog the dog's tail assumes that shape. Ambrose Bierce verbsdoglatin Fear is only a verb if you let it be. Don't you dare let go of my hand! Andrea Gibson verbsletting-gohands Consider incompleteness as a verb. Anne Carson incompletenessverbs James Blish told me I had the worst case of "said bookism" (that is, using every word except said to indicate dialogue). He told me to limit the verbs to said, replied, asked, and answered and only when absolutely necessary. Anne McCaffrey verbslimitswriting I'd like to invoke the Native American Navajo because their word for road is used as a verb. Their whole relationship to road has to do with how you travel it, who you are traveling it with, what the environment might be, where you're headed, in what direction, the weather and so on. Anne Waldman verbsnative-americanweather Adverbs are a sign that you've used the wrong verb. Annie Dillard verbsusedwriting In the most modern theories of physics probability seems to have replaced aether as "the nominative of the verb 'to undulate'." Arthur Eddington verbsphysicsscience Marriage is not a noun; it's a verb. It isn't something you get. It's something you do. It's the way you love your partner every day. Barbara De Angelis verbsmarriagelove Root out all the "to be" verbs in your prose and bludgeon them until dead. No "It was" or "they are" or "I am." Don't let it be, make it happen. Barbara Kingsolver proseverbsroots But love is really more of an interactive process. It's about what we do not just what we feel. It's a verb, not a noun. Bell Hooks nounsverbslove-is The word "love" is most often defined as a noun, yet al the more astute theorists of love acknowledge that we would all love better if we used it as a verb. Bell Hooks nounsverbslove-is Most metaphysical words in Hopi are verbs, not nouns as in European languages. Benjamin Lee Whorf nounsverbseurope If you can't illustrate 'it', 'it' doens't belong in Physics as a noun! You can't put an article in front. You can't put a verb after! Bill Gaede nounsverbsphysics "Balance" as a verb doesn't mean "stillness," but the constant act of making minor corrections from one side to another to bring one towards a center of stability. Brenda Strong verbsbalancemean I want to rethink surrender as an active verb. Brian Eno surrenderverbswant I am still studying verbs and the mystery of how they connect nouns. I am more suspicious of adjectives than at any other time in all my born days. Carl Sandburg nounsadjectivesverbs The process of unlearning in order to relearn demands a new concept of knowledge not as thing but as a process, not as a noun but as a verb. Cathy Davidson nounsverbsorder There is a word, in a verb, something sacred which forbids us from using it recklessly. To handle a language cunningly is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery. Charles Baudelaire sorceryverbspractice1234567»
