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Antimetabole
(an-tee-meh-TA-boe-lee):
Figure of emphasis in which the words in
one phrase or clause are replicated, exactly or closely, in reverse
grammatical order in
the next phrase or clause; an inverted
order of repeated words in adjacent phrases or clauses (A-B, B-A).
Example #1: "The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence." -- Carl Sagan Example #2: "Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men." -- Luther, Ninety-Five Theses Example #3: "We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing." -- George Bernard Shaw Example #4: "Those who can't do -- teach; and those who can't teach -- do." -- delivered by Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and The City, Episode "Frenemies") |
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"...that development, security, and human
rights must go hand in hand; and that there can be no security
without development and no development
without security; and neither can be sustained in the longer
term without it being rooted in the rule of law and respect for human
rights." -- Kofi Annan, Final Address to the United Nations General Assembly |
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"The poet only desires
exaltation and expansion. The poet only asks to get his head into
the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens
into his head -- and it is his head that splits." -- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy |
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"But we must remember a
crucial fact: East and West do not mistrust each other because we
are armed; we're armed because we mistrust each
other."
-- Ronald Reagan, Remarks at the Brandenburg Gage |
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"Jesus Christ came to
pay a debt he did not owe because we owed a debt we could
not pay.'"
-- Greg Laurie, Harvest Christian Fellowship |
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"All this means that the people of any country
have the right, and should have the power by constitutional action, by
free unfettered elections, with secret ballot, to choose or change the
character or form of government under which they dwell; that freedom of
speech and thought should reign; that courts of justice, independent of
the executive, unbiased by any party, should administer laws which have
received the broad assent of large majorities or are consecrated by time
and custom. Here are the title deeds of freedom which should lie in
every cottage home. Here is the message of the British and American
peoples to mankind. Let us preach what we practice -- let us
practice what we preach." -- Winston Churchill, The Sinews of Peace |
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"1999 and the illusion
continues. In the name of freedom, many have used art as a means to
destroy the human mind. As an excuse to continue we hear, "Art
reflects society." In the name of recreation these people, in
fact, are re-creating themselves in their own images; society
then reflects art."
-- Prince |
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"Tonight,
we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Whether we
bring
our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done." -- George W. Bush, 9-20-01 Address to Congress and the Nation |
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Sybil Gordon: "He won
fair and square." Harold Abrahams: "Well, that's that, Abrahams." Sybil Gordon: "Well if you can't take a beating, perhaps it's for the best." Harold Abrahams: "I don't run to take beatings! I run to win. If I can't win, I won't run." Sybil Gordon: "If you don't run, you can't win." -- delivered by Ben Cross and Alice Krige (from the movie Chariots of Fire) |
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"The world faces a very different Russia
than it did in 1991. Like all countries, Russia also faces a very
different world." -- William Jefferson Clinton, Address to the Russian Duma |
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"It is time for us to say here in Beijing, and for the world to
hear, that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women’s rights as separate from
human rights. If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference,
let it be that human rights are women’s rights and
women’s rights are human rights once and for all." -- Hillary Rodham Clinton, Women's Rights Are Human Rights |
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"How about this one on the
international front. I don't know if you saw this -- just a few weeks ago.
The German Parliament passed legislation giving animals the same rights
as humans. I can't resist the irony: A nation that once declared
people animals now declares animals people ."
-- Pastor Gary Brandenburg, 2003 sermon entitled 'Whirled Views' |
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"I, too, was born in the
slum. But just because you're born in the slum does not mean
the slum is born in you, and you can rise above it if your
mind is made up."
-- Jesse Jackson, 1984 Democratic National Convention Address |
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"And so, my fellow
Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask
what
you can do for your country."
-- John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address |
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"In an age when both sides have come to
possess enough nuclear power to destroy the human race several times
over, the world of communism and the world of free choice have been
caught up in a vicious circle of conflicting ideology and interest.
Each increase of tension has produced an increase of arms;
each increase of arms has produced an increase of tension." -- John F. Kennedy, Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Address to the Nation |
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"We say to our children
'Be like grownups.' But Jesus said to us grownups, 'Be
like children.'"
-- Billy Graham, Harvard University Address |
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Alexa Woods: "Seven
seasons on the ice and I've never seen a gun save someone's life." Adele Rousseau: "I don't plan on using it." Alexa Woods: "Then why bring it?" Adele Rousseau: "Same principle as a condom: I'd rather have one and not need it than need it and not have one." -- delivered by Sana Lathan & Agathe De La Boulaye (from the movie Alien vs. Predator) |
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"There are some who may feel that religion is
not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty
threats that face us. If so, they're at odds with the nation's Founders,
for they, when our nation faced its greatest peril, sought the blessings
of the Creator. And further, they discovered the essential connection
between the survival of a free land and the protection of
religious
freedom. In John
Adams' words: 'We have no government armed with power capable of
contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.' 'Our
Constitution,' he said, was made for a moral and religious people.'
Freedom requires religion just as religion requires
freedom. -- Mitt Romney, Faith in America Address, College Station, TX |
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"And I
think what we have really to do in Israel is to change the electoral
system, and to enable people who are secular and religious to coexist.
And if the rabbis want to decide who is a Jew, the
Jews have the right to decide who is a rabbi. And that's the way
life should go." -- Shimon Peres, Q&A session response following a 1999 address at the University of Texas at Tyler |
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IMF Contact: "And Mr.
Hunt, the next time you go on holiday please be good enough
to let us know where you're going." Tape Message: "This message will self destruct in five seconds." Ethan Hunt: "If I let you know where I'm going, then I won't be on holiday." -- delivered by Anthony Hopkins and Tom Cruise (from the movie Mission Impossible 2) |
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