Is there, after all, any solace like the solace and consolation of Language? When I am disconcerted by the unpleasing aspects of existence, when to me, as to Hamlet, this earth seems a sterile promontory, it is not in Metaphysics nor in Religion that I seek for reassurance, but in fine phrases. The thought of gazing on life’s Evening Star makes of ugly old age a pleasing prospect; if I call Death mighty and unpersuaded, it has no terrors for me; I am perfectly content to be cut down as a flower, to flee as a shadow, to be swallowed like a snowflake on the sea. These similes soothe and effectually console me. I am sad only at the thought that Words must perish like all things mortal; that the most perfect Metaphors must be forgotten when the human race is dust.
— Logan Pearsall Smith, All Trivia: A Collection of Reflections & Aphorisms
I was thrilled to discover the existence of a book called Wodehouse Nuggets, a collection of that genius’s finest phrases. Granted, I love the entire stories, but I admit it feels deliciously decadent to sit down with a big bag of similes, as it were, and stuff handfuls into my greedy mouth, so to speak. Now, if only someone would compile a similar effort called Nietzsche Nuggets. Damn. That’s going to end up being my job, isn’t it?