“That would have made Quintilian stare and gasp.”
On the Detraction which followed upon my writing certain Treatises, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
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John Milton190
English epic poet 1608–1674Related quotes
“We've learned to see the world in gasps.”
Margaret Atwood book The Handmaid's Tale
Source: The Handmaid's Tale
Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist
Referring to the first Woody Guthrie record he ever heard, p. 243
Chronicles: Vol. One (2004)
“The result of this is fear. And man gasps for safety and morality.”
Sukarno (1901–1970) first President of the Republic of Indonesia
Speech at the Opening of the Bandung Conference
“My God,' he gasped, 'you're fun to kiss.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald book Tender Is the Night
Source: Tender Is the Night
“I volunteer!" I gasp. "I volunteer as tribute!”
Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games
Source: The Hunger Games
“We are more inclined to shrug than we are to gasp.”
John Leonard (1939–2008) American critic, writer, and commentator
"Books of the Times" in The New York Times (6 July 1981)
Context: For every wicked witch there is, in our culture, a black magician, an alchemist, a Flying Dutchman, a Doctor Strangelove, a Vincent Price. The scientist, like the magician, possesses secrets. A secret — expertise — is somehow perceived as antidemocratic, and therefore ought to be unnatural. We have come a long way from Prometheus to Faust to Frankenstein. And even Frankenstein's monster is now a joke. Mr. Barnouw reminds us of "The Four Troublesome Heads" (1898), in which a conjuror punishes three of his own severed heads because they sing out of tune; he hits them with a banjo.
This book, at once scrupulous and provocative, reminds us of two habits of mind we seem to have misplace — innocent wonder and an appreciation of practical brain power. Peeled grapes are out and LSD is in. (Again, alas.) If we laugh at Frankenstein, we also laugh at Bambi. We are more inclined to shrug than we are to gasp. Isn't everything a trick? Am I putting you on? Of course not; you wouldn't fit. Hit me with a banjo.
