William Empson Quotes

The machinations of ambiguity are among the very roots of poetry.

William Empson

Quotes to Explore

When the Taiwan Relations Act passed in 1979, our biggest concern was preventing the use of military force against Taiwan. Little did we know that our friends on Taiwan could so effectively use the space created by our friendship to revolutionize their political system.

Sam Brownback
- Friends
- Political
- Space
Human attention is limited, and a massive number of newly browsable books from the long tail necessarily compete with the biggest best-sellers, just as cable siphons audience from the major networks, and just as the Web pulls viewers from TV.

Gary Wolf
- Long
- Attention
- Human
You can't embarrass Joss Whedon, he's got no pride! He fully admits it. 'Oh, it's me. I'm little and goofy.' You can't wound his pride. He's too self-deprecating.

Nathan Fillion
- Pride
- Goofy
- Embarrass
There's a side of fashion that's very analytical and data-oriented and methodical, but there's also a side of it that's just like magic. You can't quite put your finger on it, and you can't quite describe or prescribe a formula for how to get that magic exactly, but when you feel it and when you see it,you know that's what it is. It's magic.

Imran Amed
- Know
- Fashion
- Magic
With all the great products that are apparently out there that are undetectable, for me to take something like that... when people take things that now aren't even being tested for, does it make any sense?

Rafael Palmeiro
- People
- Great
- Me
I had been playing for about a year and a half when the Beach Boys formed. When our folks went to Mexico on business, we would take the food money they had left us and we would rent instruments.

Carl Wilson
- Money
- Business
- Food