Understanding the past requires pretending that you don't know the present. It requires feeling its own pressure on your pulses without any ex post facto illumination.
Paul FussellA more or less accurate measure of class in America is TV size: the bigger your TV, the lower your class.
Paul FussellAnybody who notices unpleasant facts in the have-a-nice-day world we live in is going to be designated a curmudgeon.
Paul FussellTravel sharpens the senses. Abroad one feels, sees and hears things in an abnormal way.
Paul FussellThe middles cleave to euphemisms not just because they're an aid in avoiding facts. They like them also because they assist their social yearnings towards pomposity. This is possible because most euphemisms permit the speaker to multiply syllables, and the middle class confuses sheer numerousness with weight and value.
Paul Fussell