Recounting Quotations

We're talking about, essentially, the Roman historians, who wrote Cleopatra into the story mostly so that they could talk about the rise of Rome. And that is one of the problems, of course, in recounting her life. She's only ever apparent to us when there is a Roman in the room, or when her story intersects with the rise of Rome.

Recounting their histories, people often sound like interested bystanders to their own lives.

Cheerfully fessing up to our failures turns crazy mind off, humility and compassion on. I learned this in a karate dojo that had a strange tradition. Everyone there loved recounting failure stories, and after an evening of smacking one another, we'd sit and have a beer while the students swapped tales of martial arts disaster.

I don't think anybody has captured this feeling of utter queasiness you have when all your professional premises are taken away. Recounting it now, it sounds like everything fell into place (logically). But it was the most unsettling, nauseating experience. The outcome wasn't assured, and most of us only had a vague sense of what to do next.

We live immersed in narrative, recounting and reassessing the meaning of our past actions, anticipating the outcome of our future projects, situating ourselves at the intersection of several stories not yet completed.

After the fighting is done, and even when it's still happening, apologies are often needed for the recounting of bare facts. Sometimes bare facts feel unpatriotic.

You would have to show that your vote is diluted by recounting. That seems unlikely given all the recounting there has been in the past