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c5a9ad0
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Wit is the unexpected copulation of ideas.
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patrick-o-brian
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Patrick O'Brian |
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e24eb01
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But you know as well as I, patriotism is a word; and one that generally comes to mean either , which is infamous, or , which is imbecile.
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stephen-maturin
maturin
nationalism
nationality
patriotism
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Patrick O'Brian |
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21da159
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Jack, you've debauched my sloth.
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sloth
drunk
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Patrick O'Brian |
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3d27ba6
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I sew his ears on from time to time, sure.
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friendship
maturin
surgery
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Patrick O'Brian |
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beb2ae9
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Two weevils crept from the crumbs. 'You see those weevils, Stephen?' said Jack solemnly. I do.' Which would you choose?' There is not a scrap of difference. Arcades ambo. They are the same species of curculio, and there is nothing to choose between them.' But suppose you had to choose?'
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Patrick O'Brian |
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e400d1e
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The weather had freshened almost to coldness, for the wind was coming more easterly, from the chilly currents between Tristan and the Cape; the sloth was amazed by the change; it shunned the deck and spent its time below. Jack was in his cabin, pricking the chart with less satisfaction than he could have wished: progress, slow, serious trouble with the mainmast-- unaccountable headwinds by night-- and sipping a glass of grog; Stephen was in..
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humour
drunkenness
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Patrick O'Brian |
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4eade68
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I am opposed to authority, that egg of misery and oppression; I am opposed to it largely for what it does to those who exercise it.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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6526f8f
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This short watch that is about to come, or rather these two short watches--why are they called watches? Where, heu, heu, is the connection?' Why,' said Stephen, 'it is because they are curtailed of course.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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1b5d702
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They will not be pleased. But they know we must catch the monsoon with a well-found ship; and they know they are in the Navy--they have chosen their cake, and must lie on it.' You mean, they cannot have their bed and eat it.' No, no, it is not quite that either. I mean--I wish you would not confuse my mind, Stephen.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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77c7e3c
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Sir,' said Stephen, 'I read novels with the utmost pertinacity. I look upon them--I look upon good novels--as a very valuable part of literature, conveying more exact and finely-distinguished knowledge of the human heart and mind than almost any other, with greater breadth and depth and fewer constraints.
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literature
novels
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Patrick O'Brian |
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4ba7f3a
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looking angrily at the wombat: and a moment later, 'Come now, Stephen, this is coming it pretty high: your brute is eating my hat.' 'So he is, too,' said Dr. Maturin. 'But do not be perturbed, Jack; it will do him no harm, at all. His digestive processes--
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humor
wombat
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Patrick O'Brian |
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d7e191d
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Other people's marriages are a perpetual source of amazement.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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ad86520
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Stephen had been put to sleep in his usual room, far from children and noise, away in that corner of the house which looked down to the orchard and the bowling-green, and in spite of his long absence it was so familiar to him that when he woke at about three he made his way to the window almost as quickly as if dawn had already broken, opened it and walked out onto the balcony. The moon had set: there was barely a star to be seen. The still..
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music
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Patrick O'Brian |
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5734df7
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Stephen had spared no expense in making himself more unhappy, his own position as a rejected lover clearer.
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wallowing
unrequited-love
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Patrick O'Brian |
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62bbde5
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I have had such a sickening of men in masses, and of causes, that I would not cross this room to reform parliament or prevent the union or to bring about the millennium. I speak only for myself, mind - it is my own truth alone - but man as part of a movement or a crowd is indifferent to me. He is inhuman. And I have nothing to do with nations, or nationalism. The only feelings I have - for what they are - are for men as individuals; my loya..
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Patrick O'Brian |
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33da0c1
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My dear creature, I have done with all debate. But you know as well as I, patriotism is a word; and one that generally comes to mean either MY COUNTRY, RIGHT OR WRONG, which is infamous, or MY COUNTRY IS ALWAYS RIGHT, which is imbecile.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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155c313
|
Go and see whether the Doctor is about,' said Jack, 'and if he is, ask him to look in, when he has a moment.' Which he is in the fish-market, turning over some old-fashioned lobsters. No. I tell a lie. That is him, falling down the companion-way and cursing in foreign.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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33aabc5
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For a moment Jack felt the strongest inclination to snatch up his little gilt chair and beat the white-faced man down with it...
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Patrick O'Brian |
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c04bc78
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They were looking after themselves, living with rigid economy; and there was no greater proof of their friendship than the way their harmony withstood their very grave differences in domestic behaviour. In Jack's opinion Stephen was little better than a slut: his papers, odd bits of dry, garlic'd bread, his razors and small-clothes lay on and about his private table in a miserable squalor; and from the appearance of the grizzled wig that wa..
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Patrick O'Brian |
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de4a698
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Because, sir, teaching young gentlemen has a dismal effect upon the soul.It exemplifies the badness of established, artificial authority. The pedagogue has almost absolute authority over pupils: he often beats them and insensibly he loses the sense of respect due to them as fellow human beings.He does them harm, but the harm they do him is far greater. He may easily become the all-knowing tyrant, always right, always virtuous; in any event ..
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Patrick O'Brian |
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25cb07a
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I am in favour of leaving people alone, however imperfect their polity may seem. It appears to me that you must not tell other nations how to set their house in order; nor must you compel them to be happy.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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f3bb21e
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It is a great while since I felt the grind of bone under my saw,' he added, smiling with anticipation.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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5f3e6e5
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Wallis,' said Maturin, 'I am happy to see you. How is your penis?
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Patrick O'Brian |
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77df805
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Never mind manoeuvres, always go at them.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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b76ca2d
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No man born of woman has ever understood spoken Portuguese.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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29afc62
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He sat on as the sun's rays came slowly down through the trees, lower and lower, and when the lowest reached a branch not far above him it caught a dewdrop poised upon a leaf. The drop instantly blazed crimson, and a slight movement of his head made it show all the colours of the spectrum with extraordinary purity, from a red almost too deep to be seen through all the others to the ultimate violet and back again.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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96b28fb
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To tell the truth, sir, I believe I had rather sit in the shelter for a while. The cabbage seems to have turned my inward parts to water.' Nonsense,' said Stephen, 'it is the most wholesome cabbage I have ever come across in the whole of my career. I hope, Mr. Herapath, that you are not going to join in the silly weak womanish unphilosophical mewling and puling about the cabbage. So it is a little yellow in certain lights, so it is a little..
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Patrick O'Brian |
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3084575
|
Patriotism is a word; and one that generally comes to mean either my country, right or wrong, which is infamous, or my country is always right, which is imbecile.
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political
tired
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Patrick O'Brian |
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11875f7
|
Mr Babbington,' he said, suddenly stopping in his up and down. 'Take your hands out of your pockets. When did you last write home?' Mr Babbington was at an age when almost any question evokes a guilty response, and this was, in fact, a valid accusation. He reddened, and said, 'I don't know, sir.' 'Think, sir, think,' said Jack, his good-tempered face clouding unexpectedly...'Never, mind. Write a handsome letter. Two pages at least. And send..
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Patrick O'Brian |
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3c244be
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Do you not find it happens very often, that you are as gay as Garrick at dinner and then by supper-time you wonder why God made the world?
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Patrick O'Brian |
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d936f17
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Touch and away, Jack?' asked Stephen. 'Touch and away? Do you not recall that I have important business there? Enquiries of the very first interest?' To do with our enterprise? To do with this voyage?' Perhaps not quite directly.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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483e8a0
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Why, sir," said he, looking about him, "what splendour I see: gold lace, breeches, cocked hats. Allow me to recommend a sandwich. And would you be contemplating an attack, at all?" "It had crossed my mind, I must admit," said Jack. "Indeed, I may go so far as to say, that I am afraid a conflict is now virtually inevitable. Did you notice we have cleared for action?"
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Patrick O'Brian |
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d8c2a3d
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I do not say that all lawyers are bad, but I do maintain that the general tendency is bad: standing up in a court for whichever side has paid you, affecting warmth and conviction, and doing everything you can to win the case, whatever your private opinion may be, will soon dull any fine sense of honour. The mercenary soldier is not a valued creature, but at least he risks his life, whereas these men merely risk their next fee.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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83c23e8
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The words 'Very finely played, sir, I believe' were formed in his gullet if not in his mouth when he caught the cold and indeed inimical look and heard the whisper, 'If you really must beat the measure, sir, let me entreat you to do so in time, and not half a beat ahead.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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c2cba48
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Stephen nodded. 'Tell me,' he said, in a low voice, some moments later. 'Were I under naval discipline, could that fellow have me whipped?'He nodded towards Mr Marshall. 'The master?' cried Jack, with inexpressible amazement. 'Yes,' said Stephen looking attentively at him, with his head slightly inclined to the left. 'But he is the master...' said Jack. If Stephen had called the sophies stem her stern, or her truck her keel, he would hav..
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Patrick O'Brian |
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dd061bf
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That would be locking the horse after the stable door is gone, a very foolish thing to do.
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stephen-maturin
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Patrick O'Brian |
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9e272b2
|
You do not mean there is danger of peace?", cried Jack." --
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war
navy
peace
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Patrick O'Brian |
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55626d6
|
I have never yet known a man admit that he was either rich or asleep: perhaps the poor man and the wakeful man have some great moral advantage.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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f99e8cb
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Valuable and ingenious he might be, thought Jack, fixing him with his glass, but false he was too, and perjured. He had voluntarily sworn to have no truck with vampires, and here, attached to his bosom, spread over it and enfolded by one arm, was a greenish hairy thing, like a mat - a loathsome great vampire of the most poisonous kind, no doubt. 'I should never have believed it of him: his sacred oath in the morning watch and now he stuffs ..
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humour
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Patrick O'Brian |
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72bd317
|
Jack, you have debauched my sloth.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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152632e
|
He held up two fingers, in case a landman might not fully comprehend so great a number.
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Patrick O'Brian |
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af9481e
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I cannot understand the principle at all,' said Stephen. 'I should very much like to show it to Captain Aubrey, who is so very well versed in the mathematics and dynamics of sailing. Landlord, pray ask him whether he is willing to part with the instrument.' Not on your fucking life,' said the Aboriginal, snatching the boomerang and clasping it to his bosom. He says he does not choose to dispose of it, your honour,' said the landlord. 'But n..
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Patrick O'Brian |
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044a0ff
|
What do you say to taking up our game where we left off? I was winning, you will recall.' Winning, for all love: how your ageing memory does betray you, my poor friend,' said Stephen, fetching his 'cello. They tuned, and at no great distance Killick said to his mate, 'There they are, at it again. Squeak, squeak; boom, boom. And when they do start a-playing, it's no better. You can't tell t'other from one. Never nothing a man could sing to, ..
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Patrick O'Brian |
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663b37c
|
Authority is a solvent of humanity: look at any husband, any father of a family, and note the absorption of the person by the persona, the individual by the role. Then multiply the family, and the authority, by some hundreds and see the effect upon a sea-captain, to say nothing of an absolute monarch. Surely man in general is born to be oppressed or solitary, if he is to be fully human; unless it so happens that he is immune to the poison.
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Patrick O'Brian |