Famous quotes containing the words rip van, rip and/or van:
“As a father I had some trouble finding the words to separate the person from the deed. Usually, when one of my sons broke the rules or a window, I was too angry to speak calmly and objectively. My own solution was to express my feelings, but in an exaggerated, humorous way: “You do that again and you will be grounded so long they will call you Rip Van Winkle II,” or “If I hear that word again, I’m going to braid your tongue.””
—David Elkind (20th century)
“We are double-edged blades, and every time we whet our virtue the return stroke straps our vice. Where is the skillful swordsman who can give clean wounds, and not rip up his work with the other edge?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Irrefragability, thy name is mathematics.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)