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Grex > Iq > #171: The Mysterious Quote Item |  |
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md
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The Mysterious Quote Item
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Oct 11 14:26 UTC 2003 |
Ths is the mysterious quote item. In this item, you have to enter a
quote which, by its style or its content, should enable a liberally
educated reader to guess its author without having to do a Google
search. If we have to start playing 20 questions, you've probably
failed.
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| 224 responses total. |
md
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response 1 of 224:
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Oct 11 14:34 UTC 2003 |
Btw, the person who guesses the author gets to enter the next quote.
Here's one to start:
"While the eyes of all men were upon this event, admiring the justice
displayed in their deserved deaths, the same eyes were suddenly taken
off from this sight to admire at the mysterious ways of the same power
in the melancholy fate of the young and virtuous daughter, the lady
Cordelia, whose good deeds did seem to deserve a more fortunate
conclusion: but it is an awful truth, that innocence and piety are not
always successful in this world. The forces which Goneril and Regan had
sent out under the command of the bad earl of Gloucester were
victorious, and Cordelia, by the practices of this wicked earl, who did
not like that any should stand between him and the throne, ended her
life in prison. Thus, Heaven took this innocent lady to itself in her
young years, after showing her to the world an illustrious example of
filial duty. Lear did not long survive this kind child."
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slynne
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response 2 of 224:
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Oct 11 14:42 UTC 2003 |
All I can think of is King Lear by Shakespeare but that passage doesnt
sound very Shakespearian.
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md
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response 3 of 224:
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Oct 11 14:48 UTC 2003 |
Nope.
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remmers
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response 4 of 224:
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Oct 11 17:22 UTC 2003 |
The passage is certainly about King Lear, but it's also certainly
a commentary on the play by some other author.
No author in particular jumps out at me, but the writing style
seems 20th century. Maybe some current literary critic. For no
better reason than that he's the first one to come to mind, I'll
guess Harold Bloom.
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remmers
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response 5 of 224:
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Oct 11 17:24 UTC 2003 |
(Thanks to md for reviving this item, by the way!)
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other
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response 6 of 224:
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Oct 11 17:56 UTC 2003 |
I would have guessed Bloom as well.
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tod
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response 7 of 224:
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Oct 11 19:32 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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carson
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response 8 of 224:
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Oct 11 23:49 UTC 2003 |
<linked to games>
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md
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response 9 of 224:
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Oct 12 00:05 UTC 2003 |
*So* not Harold Bloom.
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mcnally
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response 10 of 224:
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Oct 12 01:43 UTC 2003 |
Elia?
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md
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response 11 of 224:
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Oct 12 14:29 UTC 2003 |
And...?
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remmers
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response 12 of 224:
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Oct 12 14:30 UTC 2003 |
(That was going to be my next guess.)
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md
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response 13 of 224:
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Oct 12 14:34 UTC 2003 |
But unless Elia was two people, which I don't believe he was, that's
only half the answer. McNally probably has it, though, so let's
declare him the winner. Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles Lamb
("Elia") and his sister Mary. It's a children's book, as evidence the
glossing over of the ghastly pathos of Cordelia's and Lear's deaths.
McNally's up.
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mcnally
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response 14 of 224:
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Oct 13 18:39 UTC 2003 |
Was out hiking most of the weekend and not feeling particularly bookish.
I'm at work right now, but will endeavor to find a suitable quote this
evening..
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mcnally
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response 15 of 224:
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Oct 15 06:53 UTC 2003 |
Hmmm.. I'm accustomed to having my own books around me but don't have
that luxury at the moment -- they're mostly in storage back in Michigan.
So I'll just make do with what's handy on my sister's bookshelves.
"Brother to a Prince and fellow to a beggar if he be found worthy.
The law, as quoted, lays down a fair conduct of life, and one not
easy to follow. I have been fellow to a beggar again and again
under circumstances which prevented either of us finding out whether
the other was worthy. I have still to be brother to a Prince,
though I once came near to kinship with what might have been a
veritable King and was promised the reversion of a Kingdom --
army, law-courts, revenue, and policy all complete. But, today,
I greatly fear that my King is dead, and if I want a crown I must
go hunt it for myself."
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aruba
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response 16 of 224:
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Oct 15 13:11 UTC 2003 |
Mark Twain?
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slynne
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response 17 of 224:
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Oct 15 14:00 UTC 2003 |
Oh. I think I have read that but for the life of me, I cant remember
what it is or who wrote it. ARGH.
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mcnally
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response 18 of 224:
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Oct 15 17:18 UTC 2003 |
Not Twain.
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slynne
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response 19 of 224:
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Oct 15 18:21 UTC 2003 |
Oscar Wilde?
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mcnally
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response 20 of 224:
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Oct 15 19:19 UTC 2003 |
Nor Wilde.
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tod
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response 21 of 224:
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Oct 15 23:22 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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mcnally
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response 22 of 224:
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Oct 15 23:45 UTC 2003 |
To the best of my knowledge this author never resided in DeSmet, SD.
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gelinas
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response 23 of 224:
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Oct 16 01:58 UTC 2003 |
Too refined for Kipling, I think. Still, with no hope of finding a suitable
quote should I be right, I'll guess Rudyard.
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slynne
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response 24 of 224:
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Oct 16 02:03 UTC 2003 |
E.M. Forrester?
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