Mutual Imprecations

Famous quotes containing the words mutual and/or imprecations:

    Then, anger
    was a crease in the brow
    and silence
    a catastrophe.
    Then, making up
    was a mutual smile
    and a glance
    a gift.
    Now, just look at this mess
    that you’ve made of that love.
    You grovel at my feet
    and I berate you
    and can’t let my anger go.
    Amaru (c. seventh century A.D.)

    The indications are that swearing preceded the development of cursing. That is, expletives, maledictions, exclamations, and imprecations of the immediately explosive or vituperative kind preceded the speechmaking and later rituals involved in the deliberate apportioning of the fate of an enemy. Swearing of the former variety is from the lips only, but the latter is from the heart. Damn it! is not that same as Damn you!
    Ashley Montagu (b. 1905)