WIST Quotations

Keyes, Daniel -- “Flowers for Algernon” (1959)

Dave — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:46:00 +0000

Am I a genius? I don’t think so. Not yet anyway. As Burt would put it, mocking the euphemisms of educational jargon, I’m exceptional — a democratic term used to avoid the damning labels of gifted and deprived (which used to mean bright and retarded) and as soon as exceptional begins to mean anything to anyone they’ll change it. The idea seems to be: use an expression only as long as it doesn’t mean anything to anybody. Exceptional refers to both ends of the spectrum, so all my life I’ve been exceptional.

Daniel F. Keyes (1927-2014) American author
“Flowers for Algernon” (1959)

Keyes, Daniel -- Flowers for Algernon (novel) (1966)

Dave — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 14:13:18 +0000

No one really starts anything new, Mrs Nemur. Everyone builds on other men’s failures. There is nothing really original in science. What each man contributes to the sum of knowledge is what counts.

Daniel F. Keyes (1927-2014) American author
Flowers for Algernon (novel) (1966)

Keyes, Daniel -- Flowers for Algernon (novel) (1966)

Dave — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 15:25:22 +0000

Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men.

Daniel F. Keyes (1927-2014) American author
Flowers for Algernon (novel) (1966)

Keyes, Daniel -- Flowers for Algernon (novel) (1966)

Dave — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 14:58:23 +0000

I am afraid. Not of life, or death, or nothingness, but of wasting it as if I had never been.

Daniel F. Keyes (1927-2014) American author
Flowers for Algernon (novel) (1966)

Keyes, Daniel -- Flowers for Algernon (novel) (1966)

Dave — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 14:26:21 +0000

Now I understand one of the important reasons for going to college and getting an education is to learn that the things you’ve believed in all your life aren’t true, and that nothing is what it appears to be.

Daniel F. Keyes (1927-2014) American author
Flowers for Algernon (novel) (1966)