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  Quotes by Goodman, Paul




Paul Goodman (1911 - 1972) was an American poet, writer, and public intellectual. Goodman is now mainly remembered as a notable political activist on the pacifist Left in the 1960s and early 70s. Politically he described himself as an anarchist, sexually as pederast (Rossman, 1976, pp.87-92), and professionally as a "man of letters". Less widely known is his role as a co-founder of Gestalt Therapy..

"Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity."

Goodman, Paul on joy
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"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."

Goodman, Paul on food and eating    Share

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

Goodman, Paul on opinions    Share

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"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."

Goodman, Paul on speech    Share

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"Few great men could pass personal."

Goodman, Paul on business    Share

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"When a village ceases to be a community, it becomes oppressive in its narrow conformity. So one becomes an individual and migrates to the city. There, finding others like-minded, one re-establishes a village community. Nowadays only New Yorkers are yokels."

Goodman, Paul on town and country    Share

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"To translate, one must have a style of his own, for otherwise the translation will have no rhythm or nuance, which come from the process of artistically thinking through and molding the sentences; they cannot be reconstituted by piecemeal imitation. The problem of translation is to retreat to a simpler tenor of one's own style and creatively adjust this to one's author."

Goodman, Paul on translation    Share

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"The important thing about travel in foreign lands is that it breaks the speech habits and makes you blab less, and breaks the habitual space-feeling because of different village plans and different landscapes. It is less important that there are different mores, for you counteract these with your own reaction-formations."

Goodman, Paul on travel    Share

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

Goodman, Paul on comedy and comedians    Share

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