“Waiting for the German verb is surely the ultimate thrill.”

—  Flann O'Brien

Page 143
The Hair of the Dogma (1977)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Waiting for the German verb is surely the ultimate thrill." by Flann O'Brien?
Flann O'Brien photo
Flann O'Brien30
Irish writer 1911–1966

Related quotes

Mark Twain photo

“Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him till he emerges on the other side of his Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.”

Mark Twain book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Source: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889), Ch. 22

Mr. T photo

“Love is a verb… and Verbs show action”

Mr. T (1952) American actor and retired professional wrestler

Quotes from acting

Richard Ford photo

“I'm a verb, Frank. Verbs don't answer questions.”

Richard Ford The Sportswriter

The Sportswriter

Douglas Hofstadter photo

“The proverbial German phenomenon of the verb-at-the-end about which droll tales of absentminded professors who would begin a sentence, ramble on for an entire lecture, and then finish up by rattling off a string of verbs by which their audience, for whom the stack had long since lost its coherence, would be totally nonplussed, are told, is an excellent example of linguistic recursion.”

Douglas Hofstadter book Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid

"Recursive Structures and Processes"
Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid (1979)

“A warrior knows that he is waiting and knows also what he is waiting for, and while he waits he feasts his eyes on the world. The ultimate accomplishment of a warrior is joy.”

Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) Peruvian-American author

Source: The Eagle's Gift, (1981)

Miranda July photo

“Don't wait to be sure. Move, move, move.”

Miranda July (1974) American performance artist, musician and writer

Source: No One Belongs Here More Than You

Kurt Schwitters photo

“I was thrilled, and I mean really thrilled, when I read that parts of the Merzbau could still be buried under the ruins. Whatever the circumstances. I will try and come to Hannover to salvage it.... wait until I arrive, for the Merzbau is made of plaster of Paris and could easily be damaged. However by working slowly I am sure I can save parts. And it is certainly worth it, because it [his 'Merzbau'] is my life's work. And in the opinion of people abroad it was seen as a new form of art.”

Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948) German artist

Source: 1940s, I is Style (2000), p. 47 : in a letter to Käthe Steinitz (24 June 1945)

Sören Kierkegaard photo

“Human relations are like the irregular verbs in a number of languages where nearly all verbs are irregular.”

Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism

Journals A 126 (March 1836)
1830s, The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard, 1830s
Context: One could construe the life of man as a great discourse in which the various people represent different parts of speech (the same might apply to states). How many people are just adjectives, interjections, conjunctions, adverbs? How few are substantives, active verbs, how many are copulas? Human relations are like the irregular verbs in a number of languages where nearly all verbs are irregular.

Thich Nhat Hanh photo

“Compassion is a verb.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

Related topics