quote/unquote: Updike and other voices

Another in a series from Wilson in St. Louis

"What really flatters a man is that you think him worth flattering."
--- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

"To know for sure, I'd have to throw with a normal hand, and I've never tried it."
--- Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown, when asked if his curve was helped by the absence of an index finger. Brown pitched in 1914 for the St. Louis Federals.

"When I write, I aim in my mind not toward New York but toward a vague spot a little to the east of Kansas."
---- John Updike who died tuesday
"Sex is like money; only too much is enough."

---- John Updike

"O Presidente da Esperanca" (A President of Hope)
—- Jornal do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, jan. 21, '09

"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around -- when yellow will be mellow -- when the red man can get ahead, man -- and when white will embrace what is right. Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen." — Rev. Lowery giving the benediction at the inauguration
"They wanted to make absolutely, positively certain that W. was gone. It was like a physical burden being lifted, like a sigh went up of “Thank God. Has Cheney’s wheelchair left the building, too?” —- Maureen Dowd, NY Times, Jan. 21, '09

"But now Obama comes out of nowhere just when good politics has never mattered more. A complete collapse of the global financial system is not unimaginable. In uncharted waters, billions and trillions gush from governments everywhere, frantically shoring up banks that squandered trust. One thing looks grimly certain, however we get out of this: future deep debts threaten public services, long-lasting unemployment, real pay cuts and changed prospects in need of a new politics.....If ever the world needed saving, it's now. So here comes the man who says he can. It's an American mystery that this great pool of genius has usually thrown such minnows into the White House. But the monumental present danger has summoned forth a man who promises the intellect, character and power of persuasion to match the hour." — Polly Toynbee, Manchester Guardian, Jan. 21, '09