LOGICIAN: [to the OLD GENTLEMAN] Here is an example of a syllogism. The cat has four paws. Isidore and Fricot both have four paws. Therefore Isidore and Fricot are cats.
OLD GENTLEMAN: [to the LOGICIAN] My dog has got four paws.
LOGICIAN: [to the OLD GENTLEMAN] Then it's a cat.
BERENGER: [to JEAN] I've barely got the strength to go on living. Maybe I don't even want to.
OLD GENTLEMAN: [to the LOGICIAN, after deep reflection] So then logically speaking, my dog must be a cat?
LOGICIAN: [to the OLD GENTLEMAN] Logically, yes. But the contrary is also true.
BERENGER: [to JEAN] Solitude seems to oppress me. And so does the company of other people.
JEAN: [to BERENGER] You contradict yourself. What oppresses you - solitude, or the company of others? You consider yourself a thinker, yet you're devoid of logic.
OLD GENTLEMAN: [to the LOGICIAN] Logic is a very beautiful thing.
LOGICIAN: [to the OLD GENTLEMAN] As long as it is not abused.
BERENGER: [to JEAN] Life is an abnormal business.
JEAN: On the contrary. Nothing could be more natural, and the proof is that people go on living.
BESENGER: There are more dead people than living. And their numbers are increasing. The living are getting rarer.
OLD GENTLEMAN: [to the LOGICIAN] My dog has got four paws.
LOGICIAN: [to the OLD GENTLEMAN] Then it's a cat.
BERENGER: [to JEAN] I've barely got the strength to go on living. Maybe I don't even want to.
OLD GENTLEMAN: [to the LOGICIAN, after deep reflection] So then logically speaking, my dog must be a cat?
LOGICIAN: [to the OLD GENTLEMAN] Logically, yes. But the contrary is also true.
BERENGER: [to JEAN] Solitude seems to oppress me. And so does the company of other people.
JEAN: [to BERENGER] You contradict yourself. What oppresses you - solitude, or the company of others? You consider yourself a thinker, yet you're devoid of logic.
OLD GENTLEMAN: [to the LOGICIAN] Logic is a very beautiful thing.
LOGICIAN: [to the OLD GENTLEMAN] As long as it is not abused.
BERENGER: [to JEAN] Life is an abnormal business.
JEAN: On the contrary. Nothing could be more natural, and the proof is that people go on living.
BESENGER: There are more dead people than living. And their numbers are increasing. The living are getting rarer.
* * *
Within scattered dying cells (as if to pass this knowledge on to the newer ones before they expire) an urge to remark upon the various posted quotes rumbles, nearly mistakable for indigestion. Yet all my mental reflections wisp about obtusely with every effort for transcription feeling forced and unfruitful. (Even so little as a single-lined e-mail feels forged.) I expressed this lamentation and the advice I received was to keep reading, keeping observing, keep taking in all this stimulus as feed - don't focus on the output as that is the natural outcome of all this intake. So I think of these posts (with your patience) as me periodically dropping my underpants to see if anything comes out. With the right mix of nutrients, perhaps something solid, healthy, can be produced.
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