Thursday, October 16, 2014

Two kinds of people


Two kinds of people

Last week we took a look at words descended from the Proto-Indo European word duwo or dwo, meaning two. It seems a posting regarding two calls for a partner post, so this week we’ll take a look at a few things intelligent women have said about two kinds of people. In an attempt to decrease redundancy, I’ve started each quote midstream after the author wrote something along the lines of,

“There are two kinds of people…”

“…those who live for their outsides & those who live for their insides.”
-Francesca Bendeke

“…the settled & the nomad -- & there is a natural antipathy between them, whatever the land to which they belong.”
-Freya Stark

“…those who have known inescapable sorrow & those who have not.”
-Pearl S. Buck

“…those of us who are trying to escape from something & those of us who are trying to find something.”
-Ileana, Princess of Rumania

“…the people who lift & the people who lean.”
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“…those who live poor on a lot & those who live rich on a little.”
-Marcelene Cox

“…those who think there are two kinds of people & those who have more sense.”
James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Bradley Sheldon)


So good readers, does the world divide into dualities, or does that last quote from Ms. Sheldon (or Mr. Tiptree if you prefer) hit the nail on the head?



My thanks go out to this week’s sources: The Beacon Book of Quotations by Women & Tiptree.org

4 comments:

  1. Hey Charlie, I knew Oscar Wilde had a quote for this. Just had to look for it: "There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating,--people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing." (Oscar Wilde from "The Picture of Dorian Gray") I'm sure Dorothy Parker had one as well but couldn't find it. Does anyone know it? Great post as always. :)

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  2. I love all of these and think there is truth in each one. I particularly like the settled and the nomad. I am, by nature, very settled and yet my soul longs to be nomadic, maybe that's why. Thanks for another fun read.

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  3. Hi Paul & Christine,
    Thanks for the Oscar Wilde quote. I'd expect to have found the Dorothy Parker quote in my search, but didn't. I'm a huge fan of hers. And Christine, I think I oozed from being very nomadic in my youth to being so darned settled many might see me as agoraphobic.

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  4. Excellent quotes. I like Paul's additions, too! I too had a nomadic youth and enjoy my agoraphobic later years.

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