fragments

Yesterday in my lit class we were talking about Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author. In the course of our discussion there arose the question of whether one theatrical scene can define a character, and, to extrapolate, whether one action can define a person, or whether one day can define an entire life. I am generally reluctant to commit that just one part can adequately represent the whole, so I offer to you a variety of snippets which I collected today. Do let me know if you can conjure some sort of synthesis of them, and/or if you can identify the source of any of the quotes.

one. "Conjugate volo, velle, volui, in the present subjunctive." "?????"
zwei. "the awfully pleasant chatter of the birds"
tree. the "witty, ironic Dane" tells us that in order to find ourselves we must be continually aware of our relationships with others as we simultaneously acknowledge our isolation
the fourth. "All things go, all things go to recreate us, all things grow, all things grow"
cinco. "So, how many language classes have you taken?"
seis. "Have you ever heard of a little group called the Sierra Club?" "nope"
seven. "what a mountain learns from a cold river"
wajxaqib. "y amanece Madrid"
neun. "alamlax!" "no, alamnax!"
diez. "The guys with '666' inscribed on their foreheads, up in the ASB"
julajuj. "I might have to name my child 'Avocadomom'"
zwölf. "the evil spirits know where the good music is"
thirteen. "I saw the chocolate through the blinds."

That is all. I need to get translating. Oh, that reminds me. I want to share a quote from the aforementioned Six Characters in Search of an Author (which, by the way, I highly recommend. It is a quick read and an essential piece of modern theater/re. If you read Italian, then by all means go for the original.) Here it is:

THE FATHER: But don't you see that the whole trouble lies here. In words, words. Each one of us has within him a whole world of things, each man of us his own special world. And how can we ever come to an understanding if I put in the words I utter the sense and value of things as I see them; while you who listen to me must inevitably translate them according to the conception of things each one of you has within himself. We think we understand each other, but we never really do.