People From London

"I'd thought that what I'd like to do is to a translation where I don't have to think about academic considerations. Scholarly considerations. I'll just think about how to present – this is Penguins, after all – how to present this book in such a way that I do the whole of it but at the same time it's enjoyable for the English reader, if possible, and they can get some of the pleasure out of it that I got myself."

"Hawkes brought to bear such a wide range of rhetorical skills, such penetrating insight into character, such finely honed dialogue, such superbly crafted versification; but more than anything, such a profound sense of humanity, such fun and exhilaration, such melancholy and wisdom. In it he succeeds in grasping to the full, and yet at the same time transcending, the sheer Chineseness of the work, making it into a real novel for reading, revealing it as a true masterpiece of world literature."

"Hawkes's English version [of the Hong lou meng] is not a perfect translation, to be sure, but in terms of accuracy, of style, of suppleness of language, of felicity of expression, and, above all, of imaginativeness and creativity, it is unrivalled by any other version, whether English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish. If, as many translation theorists believe, every age has to translate anew the classics for itself, of all the versions of the Hong lou meng in the five major European languages mentioned, Hawkes's is the best qualified to be considered the version for our age. In a word, it is a version which Cao Xueqin would have been proud and delighted to acknowledge as the truly worthy companion to his masterpiece."

"A translator has divided loyalties. He has a duty to his author, a duty to his reader and a duty to the text. The three are by no means identical and are often hard to reconcile."

"We must make [the Honour School of Chinese] sufficiently broad and humane to satisfy those whose interests are not narrowly philological [...] by presenting Chinese literature as a part of our total human heritage; [and] we must always insist that the Honour School should be based on the study of literature."

"Our task is not the training of interpreters, nor the indulgence of exotic tastes, nor the revelation of some arcane Truth which the Orient possesses but we do not, nor the mastery of a sterile Asiatic scholasticism, but literature. If universities are not to teach language by means of literature—by means of books which are intrinsically worth-while reading, I for one do not want to be a university teacher."

"The idea that the worldling's 'reality' is illusion and that life itself is a dream from which we shall eventually awake is of course a Buddhist one; but in Xueqin's hands it becomes a poetical means of demonstrating that his characters are both creatures of his imagination and at the same time the real companions of his golden youth. To that extent it can be thought of as a literary device rather than as a deeply held philosophy, though it is really both."

"Many of the symbols, word-plays and secret patterns with which the novel abounds seem to be used out of sheer ebullience, as though the author was playing some sort of game with himself and did not much care whether he was observed or not. Chinese devotees of the novel often continue to read and reread it throughout their lives and to discover more of these little private jokes each time they read it."

"I'm spasticus autisticus."

"So long have I been languished on the shelf"

"O'Keeffe approaches a milkman whilst out in London recruiting, prods a youth pushing a milk cart :"Say, don't you want to serve your king?" "Yus" answered the youth "How many quarts will he want?""

"Soldiering has made a new man of me, regular hours and good plain food have done much to build up my strength and stamina. I feel stronger than ever."

"Stop it Billy! - I'm not the kaiser!"

"You cannot claim to worship Jesus in the tabernacle if you do not pity Jesus in the slum."

"The dark net is all of these things, to some extent – but for me, it is an idea more than a particular place: an underworld set apart yet connected to the internet we inhabit, a world of complete freedom and anonymity, and where users say and do what they like, uncensored, unregulated, and outside of society’s norms. It is a world that is as shocking and disturbing as it is innovative and creative, a world that is also much closer than you think."

"The dark net fosters breathtaking creativity. The majority of the sites I visited were astonishingly adaptive and innovative. Outsiders, radicals and pariahs are often the first to find and use technology in shrewd ways, and the rest of us have much to learn from them."

"Technology is often described as ‘neutral’. But it could be more accurately described as power and freedom. For the transhumanists, technology provides the ability to stride across the universe, to live for ever. For the anarcho-primitivists, it is a tool used to oppress and control others, to become less than human."

"The dark net is a world of power and freedom: of expression, of creativity, of information, of ideas. Power and freedom endow our creative and our destructive faculties. The dark net magnifies both, making it easier to explore every desire, to act on every dark impulse, to indulge every neurosis."

"Thirty-two years ago, I became a vegetarian. I always thought it was a bit weird eating dead bodies even though my parents said it was all right. But I saw "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," and that did it. In the movie, they're doing the same thing to people that they do to animals, and so I gradually got off eating meat.... The health thing came way later. Veganism came four years ago, and it was more of a health decision."

"Animals that are killed for their flesh lead miserable lives. They are kept in disgusting conditions. The simplest little thing you can do not to hurt animals is just not eat them. I'm bringing my four children up vegetarian, and I know absolutely that I'm giving them the very best start in life."

"When I was a small child and adults asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always beamed and said, ‘A vegetarian’. And that’s exactly what I became. Despite growing up with parents who lived on meals of meat and two veg, eating animals never made sense to me. … I grew up surrounded by dogs and cats and couldn’t understand why we protected these animals, played with them, encouraged them to sleep in our beds, and called them ‘pets’ while labelling other equally interesting, cuddly, and sentient animals ‘dinner’."

"Playing in shows all around the world takes tons of energy. Being a vegetarian has made a huge difference. Not only is a vegetarian lifestyle healthier, it's better for the animals and for the environment. And no matter where you find yourself on the planet, you can always find a great veggie meal."

"I'm always flattered when the Leprechauns are listed in these "Top Tens" of horror characters among Freddy Kruger and Jason, which were the characters I grew up "admiring," if that's the right word."

"Any kind of recognition for the work that you've done is a terrific thing. As a film actor, you don't often get that opportunity to meet with your audience and take your applause on stage. It's quite nice to meet people and hear them say, "I really enjoyed your work in this." I really enjoyed the Leprechaun films, and people who enjoy Leprechaun are quite obsessed."

"I’ve always said, if I get tired of it, I won’t do it. And I still enjoy it, and what’s there to get tired of? I always think that if people don’t recognize me, that’s when the problem starts. Right? That’s my way of looking at it. It’s great fun. I enjoy it. As I say, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it."

"I enjoy kids, always have. It’s wonderful to see their reactions, to see their faces light up when you look at the pictures because most kids have been brought up on Star Wars from their parents. It’s just a crazy thing, but it’s wonderful to see the kids and they have fun. It’s one of those things, they either believe it and go, “wow, you really played Chewbacca?” And I say, “Yes.” Having big hands is an ice-breaker. Because you put one hand up against their little hand and see the expression on their face. Amazing."

"By me, in form unmanifest, is all this universe pervaded; all beings dwell in me, but I dwell not in them."

"If, O Janārdana, discernment be held by thee more excellent than work, then why, O Keśava, dost thou set me to do a work of violence?"

"To Vivasvat I expounded this immutable doctrine of control; to Manu did Vivasvat declare it; Manu told it to Ikṣvāku."

"Thus spoke Arjuna on the field of battle, and sat down upon the chariot seat, dropping his arrows and his bow, his soul o'erwhelmed with grief."

"The order of the four castes was created by me, with due distribution of Strands and works; I did that work indeed; yet know me as no worker and immutable."

"Guarded by Bhīṣma, this our force is all too weak; and all too strong that force of theirs, by Bhīma guarded."

"But for those in whom that ignorance of Self is by knowledge destroyed, their knowledge like the sun illumines That Supreme."

"If Dhṛtarāṣṭra's men, with weapons in their hands, should slay me in the fight, unresisting and unarmed, that were happier for me!"

"For the saint who seeks to scale the heights of control work is said to be the means; when that same man has scaled the heights of control, quietude is said to be the means."

"More excellent than the austere, more excellent even than men of knowledge is the Ascetic deemed; more excellent than workers is the Ascetic; therefore be thou Ascetic, Arjuna."

"The senseless think that I am the unmanifest that has come to manifestation;(the meaning of 24 is most uncertain; commentators vary widely in their interpretations...) they do not know my higher being, immutable, supreme."

"W. Douglas P. Hill, who in 1928 gave us the most outstanding English rendering of the text, was quite conscious of the difference between good and bad translations. He noted in his "Bibliographical Notes" that in the eighteen eighties and nineties the Bhagavadgītā had become "the playground of western pseudo-mystics." He did not appreciate the attempts that he grouped together as "Theosophical Versions"; he referred to the greater part of other works on the Gītā as comparatively worthless," and he added: "Hundreds of vernacular editions have found a home in the Indian Office Library, and still continue to encumber its reluctant shelves.""

"The Lord, O Arjuna, dwells in the heart of every being, and by his delusive power spins round all beings set on the machine."

"Where Kṛiṣṇa is, Lord of Control, where is the bowman, son of Pṛithā, there—so I hold—are fortune, triumph, welfare sure, and statesmanship."

"Fools scorn me when I dwell in human form: my higher being they know not as Great Lord of beings."

"Doom am I, that causes worlds to perish, matured and here come forth to destroy the worlds; even apart from thee (i.e. even without thine action. Th. (J. C. Thomson, 1855) translates: 'except thee,' and complains that the prophecy was not fulfilled.) not one of the warriors drawn up in ranks opposing shall survive."

"On the Field of Right, the Kuru-Field, assembled, eager to fight, what did my warriors and the warriors of Pāṇḍu, O Saṁjaya?"

"For better is knowledge than constant practice; and than knowledge meditation is more excellent; than meditation, abandonment of the fruit of work; after abandonment, peace ensues."

"Kṛiṣṇa says (vii. 19) that the man of knowledge affirms that Vāsudeva is All. This is the central doctrine of the Bhagavadgītā. Kṛiṣṇa Vāsudeva is one with Brahman, the ultimate unity that lies behind this manifold universe, the changeless truth behind impermanent appearance."

"Better a man's own duty, though ill-done, than another's duty well-performed; if a man do the duty his own nature bids him, he incurs no stain."

"God descends with a purpose. From the earliest times sacrifice (yajña) had been accounted the most important work, and in the Gītā so imperative a work is sacrifice considered that we are told that 'ever on sacrifice firm-founded is Brahman all pervading'."

"The universe is a puppet-show; Brahman is sole producer, Brahman is scenery and players, Brahman is sole spectator. The universe is Brahman, sportively self-deluded, taking delight in itself. The means of production is the power of delusion, or māyā; scenery and puppets are Brahman, self-stamped with 'name and form', its 'lower nature'—prakṛiti; as spectator it is puruṣa, retaining its proper nature."

"[A new runway at Heathrow is needed to secure] a clear path to our future as a global nation in the post-Brexit world."

"Finally we have a confirmed use for Chris Grayling. He is the government's secret weapon to make even the most incompetent and second-rate of ministers feel good about themselves. Not content with having wasted the best part of £14m on the government's first-ever roll-on, roll-off pizza delivery service – all toppings guaranteed to be ferry free, the transport secretary has now spent more than £50K on failing to organise a lorry jam in Kent."