Some blogs get the knuckle-scrapers as readers, this one gets the brainy bunch, including the wordsmith and writing teacher Roy Jacobsen. Roy was kind enough to send over this most classsic example of Pow!
Andy,
I’m reading The Elements of Expression by Arthur Plotnik, and he quoted some bits from a Roman named Cassius Longinus (who died AD 273) (Andy: that's him at left, a dead ringer for my cousin Lorne Goodman) that made me think of your favorite thing:
“The startling and amazing is more powerful than the charming and persuasive…to be convinced is usually within our control whereas amazement is the result of an irresistible force beyond the control of any audience.”
Incredible. So I guess this ain't as new as I thought. Go figure...I wonder if Plato was blogging about Surprise back then?