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“Native speakers of a language know intuitively whether a sentence is grammatical or not. They usually cannot specify exactly what is wrong, and very possibly they make the same mistakes in their own speech, but they know-unconsciously, not as a set of rules they learned in school-when a sentence is incorrect.”
Source : Peter Farb (2015). “Word Play: What Happens When People Talk”, p.258, Vintage
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“I'm famous for being nicer to my fans than anyone on the face of the earth because I figure, a) They pay my salary, and b) It's probably like a big moment in your life to meet somebody; so I would say, 'Just come on up.'”
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“The existence of trousers proves that God meant us to be bipeds.”
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“If travel were so inspiring and informing a business ... then the wisest men in the world would be deck hands on tramp steamers.”
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“The big trouble is not really who isn't in the Hall of Fame, but who is. It was established for a select few.”
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“I've always been after the trappings of great luxury. But all I've got hold of are the trappings of great poverty. I've got hold of the wrong load of trappings, and a rotten load they are too, ones I could have very well done without.”
Source : Peter Cook, William Cook (2013). “Tragically I Was an Only Twin: The Comedy of Peter Cook”, p.46, Random House
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“You give me nothing during your life, but you promise to provide for me at your death. If you are not a fool, you know what I wish for!”
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“To say that a thing is beautiful is simply an act of faith, not a measurement on some kind of scale.”
Source : Private Journal - A collage of notes and images, sketches kept 1888-1895 & 1907 to 1940, April 2, 1891.