IJ quote of the day 9

Oh, dang it! Today is pp105 max, and I’m dying with some quotes for tomorrow.

So, here you go, with apologies to Craig Kilborn and Jon Stewart (that’s right, punks, I’m *that* old because Daily didn’t use to mean Stewart and I know it), today’s moment of  Zen:

After Mario’s father Dr. Incandenza passed away, the new headmaster, Dr. Charles Tavis, a Canadian citizen, either Mrs. Incandenza’s half-brother or adoptive brother, depending on the version, C.T. had taken down Incandenza’s founding motto—TE OCCIDRE POSSUNT SED TE EDERE NON POSSUNT NEFAS EST¹—and had replaced it with the rather more upbeat TE MAN WHO KNOWS HIS LIMITATIONS HAS NONE” (81).

¹ [really, 32, but wordpress didn’t think we’d be blogging Wallace and the footnote characters only go to 3, which is laughable, considering this project]

¹ Roughly, ‘They Can Kill You, But the Legalities of Eating You Are Quite a Bit Dicier.’

Um, had Tavis left himself’s motto and added the newer, allegedly peppier aphorism, the sum would basically say, “if you know there are legal implications to said consumption, you can get around them, so then there’s *really* nothing stopping you.”

Also, the Latin translation is really more like “they can kill you but they can’t eat you because it’s illegal,” but as we have all noticed, Wallace puts things much better than anyone (I almost said “anyone out there,” but damn it, he’s not anymore. shit fuck piss.)

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