The Art of Being Oblique

[lesbiaphrodite]

One of my favorite types of language is the purposely oblique. I enjoy reading great writers who use a phrase that is brief and obscure to indicate that the depth of their feelings about a given matter cannot be easily explained with fancy words, so they opt for the simplistic to make a point. Two famous literary phrases that jump to mind are these:

Bartleby the Scrivener, Herman Melville
I prefer not to.

A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
But it was more complicated than that.

Do you have any oblique literary phrases you like especially? What are they?

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

You know it makes one feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch. It's sort of what we have instead of God.

 

[Brute_Force]

Even without wars, life is dangerous.
Anne Sexton

 

[jomar]

May not be, but I like it...

That happens to not be correct.

 

[Shakti_Dreamer]

Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.
e. e. cummings

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

The best way to fill time is to waste it. --Marguerite Duras

 

[Brute_Force]

Ding, dong, bell,
Pussy's in the well!
--Mother Goose

 

[Shakti_Dreamer]

Confucius: I will not be concerned at other men's not knowing me

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

One man's sin is not a fit topic for another man's conversation.

David Eddings

 

[Guest]

"Shut up," he explained.

Ring Lardner

 

[Shakti_Dreamer]

"I have a face laid waste."--Marguerite Duras