Mastery

Famous quotes containing the word mastery:

    “The mastery of one’s phonemes may be compared to the violinist’s mastery of fingering. The violin string lends itself to a continuous gradation of tones, but the musician learns the discrete intervals at which to stop the string in order to play the conventional notes. We sound our phonemes like poor violinists, approximating each time to a fancied norm, and we receive our neighbor’s renderings indulgently, mentally rectifying the more glaring inaccuracies.”
    —W.V. Quine (b. 1908)

    “The aphorism offers a momentary sense of mastery over some confusion or unhappiness.”
    —Mason Cooley (b. 1927)

    “The limitless future of childhood shrinks to realistic proportions, to one of limited chances and goals; but, by the same token, the mastery of time and space and the conquest of helplessness afford a hitherto unknown promise of self- realization. This is the human condition of adolescence.”
    —Peter Blos (20th century)