Paul Goodman Quotes

Here we have the beautiful British compromise: a man can say anything, he mustn't do anything; a man can listen to anything, but he musn't be roused to do anything. By freedom of speech is meant freedom to talk about; speech is not saying-as-an-action.

There is such a thing as food and such a thing as poison. But the damage done by those who pass off poison as food is far less than that done by those who generation after generation convince people that food is poison.

Comedy deflates the sense precisely so that the underlying lubricity and malice may bubble to the surface.

What the devil to do with the sentence "Who the devil does he think he's fooling?" You can't write "Whom the devil—"

When the Devil quotes Scriptures, it's not, really, to deceive, but simply that the masses are so ignorant of theology that somebody has to teach them the elementary texts before he can seduce them.

For mankind, speech with a capital S is especially meaningful and committing, more than the content communicated. The outcry of the newborn and the sound of the bells are fraught with mystery more than the baby's woeful face or the venerable tower.

It rarely adds anything to say, "In my opinion"Mnot even modesty. Naturally a sentence is only your opinion; and you are not the Pope.