Gradually Varied Function

Famous quotes containing the words gradually, varied and/or function:

    Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; but urge me not to use moderation in a case like the present.
    William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879)

    See, Winter comes, to rule the varied year,
    Sullen, and sad, with all his rising train;
    Vapours, and clouds, and storms. Be these my theme,
    These, that exalt the soul to solemn thought,
    And heavenly musing. Welcome, kindred glooms!
    Congenial horrors, hail!
    James Thomson (1700–1748)

    Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose and propriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes—as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.
    Frank Smith (b. 1928)