427 Quotes About Paradox

Paradox is the essence of life, the magic key to the secrets of the universe, its joys, its laws, its miracles, its pains, its cruel comedy and its sublime tragedy.

If there is something paradoxical, in the sense of curious or bizarre, it is that the word paradox has two fairly different meanings: one which is used in logic and philosophy, and the other in rhetoric.

…a paradox would appear to be a maximum that looks false at first sight and, only after mature reflection, seems to express what the author believes to be true and, because of the hiatus between the expectations of popular opinion and its provocative form, also appears to be witty

A paradox is a genuine reversal of the commonly accepted point of view, one that presents an unacceptable world, thereby eliciting resistance and rejection, and yet, if we make an effort to understand it, it is one that leads to knowledge; eventually it seems to be witty because it has to be admitted that it is true.

I am a professional humorist, and objectively the third most critically acclaimed British stand-up comedian of the twenty-first century. If I write a stupid thing, on some level I invite you to assume it was deliberate, and that I have, to some extent, created a secondary "columnist" persona, in which I take on the role of the sort of person who would write the absurd things that I am writing, such as this sentence for example.

If it were legal, anti-conformists would all drive on the road in reverse.

If ever you find yourself in the midst of paradox, you can be sure you stand on the edge of truth.

Minden fotográfia időparadoxon. Időn beüli időtlenség, mulandó örökkévalóság. Fényképezni nem más, mint kivonni a valóságból az időt egy pillanatra, majd visszaadni ezt a pillanatot az időnek. A legpontosabban talán Roland Barthes fogalmazza meg ezt a paradoxont, amikor Lewis Payne kivégzése előtti portréjáról azt írja, hogy meg fog halni, pedig már nem él.

Jede Generation lebte im Grunde genau so wie die ihrer Eltern, nur ein bisschen effizienter. Paradoxerweise summierte sich die Abfolge von "Verbesserungen", die den Menschen eigentlich das Leben erleichtern sollten, im Laufe der Zeit zu einer drastischen Verschlechterung. [...] Mehr Arbeit für ein besseres Leben. Soweit der Plan.