The phrase was originally meant literally. In John Fitzherbert’s 1534 Book of Husbandry, he warns shepherds that they had better train their dogs to herd…
In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Blind Assassin, when young Claire Chase asks questions about her mother’s miscarriage – “How could anything so little hurt Mama?”…
This bit of machismo wisdom originated with Nietzsche, who was a professional scoffer. His book, Twilight of the Idols (1888), subtitled How to Philosophize with…
“But dead people persist in the minds of the living.” –Margaret Atwood, Negotiating with the Dead. My current work-in-progress rebelled after about ten drafts. It…