"Play not with paradoxes. That caustic which you handle in order to scorch others may happen to sear your own fingers and make them dead to the quality of things"
- George Eliot
About this Quote
This quote by George Eliot is a caution against using paradoxes as a weapon. Paradoxes are statements that seem contradictory, but can be real in particular contexts. Eliot is warning against utilizing paradoxes to injure or criticize others, as it can backfire and trigger harm to the individual who is utilizing them. He is recommending that the same caustic words utilized to blister others may end up searing the speaker's own fingers, making them insensitive to the sensations of others. To put it simply, the speaker might become so accustomed to using severe words that they end up being desensitized to the discomfort they cause. Eliot is alerting against utilizing paradoxes as a weapon, as it can lead to a lack of empathy and understanding.
"Liquid architecture. It's like jazz - you improvise, you work together, you play off each other, you make something, they make something. And I think it's a way of - for me, it's a way of trying to understand the city, and what might happen in the city"
"Jazz vision is the fusion of music and art a real paradox of same-yet different. Here we play in exchanges, like the hardness of the key of c# major and from the softness of Db major - capturing, reflecting and improvising"
"Genius is not a possession of the limited few, but exists in some degree in everyone. Where there is natural growth, a full and free play of faculties, genius will manifest itself"
