Thursday, August 2, 2018

Metaphor as art

Metaphor as art

Please celebrate with me the art of the finely crafted metaphor.

Euphemisms are unpleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne.
Quentin Crisp

The seed of revolution is repression.
Woodrow Wilson

Sacred cows make very poor gladiators.
Nikki Giovanni

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.
Zora Neale Hurston

Life is a verb, not a noun.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.
Sholom Aleichem

Hate, in the long run, is about as nourishing as cyanide.
Kurt Vonnegut

You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.
Golda Meir

In Mexico, an air conditioner is called a “politician” because it makes a lot of noise but doesn’t work very well.
Len Deighton

You should never hesitate to trade your cow for a handful of magic beans.
Tom Robbins

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.
Maya Angelou

I’d love to hear which of these you’ve never heard before or which ones strike a chord for you. 



My thanks go out to this week’s sources: AZ Quotes, Quotes.net, & Mardy Grothe’s I Never Metaphor I Didn’t Like. 

6 comments:

  1. I love them all! Especially the Tom Robbins one. I think I've traded cows for magic beans a few too many times, and it's probably time to hang onto the cow. :-)

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    1. Good point, Anne. Perhaps there are those who have a good eye for detecting better magic beans than I've been offered.

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  2. Nice post! The quote from Golda strikes a chord for me, because of all the outlandish political rhetoric.

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  3. I've never heard any of them. Where have I been? Stuffing my brain with similes?

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  4. Hi Charlie. I’ve only heard the Tom Robbins and Maya Angelou quotes before. Love Tom Robbins’ because it reminds me to not take life too seriously and to remember there is magical potential in the least expected situations. Also, I was introduced to Tom Robbins by one of my most favorite humans ever. Love all your examples. 💜

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    1. Hey Denise -- I'm hoping summer, & Catalina Island, & the folks you love are treating you well. Thanks for coming by.

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