Nabila Tabassum Chowdhury > Recent Status Updates

"So ‘Beasts of England’ was heard no more. In its place Minimus, the poet, had composed another song which began: Animal Farm, Animal Farm, Never through me shalt thou come to harm! and this was sung every Sunday morning after the hoisting of the flag. But somehow neither the words nor the tune ever seemed to the animals to come up to ‘Beasts of England’."

“It’s no longer needed,comrade,”said Squealer stiffly.“‘Beasts of England’ was the song of Rebellion.But the Rebellion is now completed.The execution of traitors this afternoon was the final act.The enemy both external and internal has been defeated.In‘Beasts of England’we expressed our longing for a better society in days to come.But that society has now been established.Clearly this song has no longer any purpose.”

"But still, it was not for this that she and all the other animals had hoped and toiled. It was not for this that they had built the windmill and faced the bullets of Jones’s gun. Such were her thoughts, though she lacked the words to express them."

When they had finished their confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats out, and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess.
...
And so the tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon’s feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood, which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones.

"Whenever anything went wrong it became usual to attribute it to Snowball. If a window was broken or a drain was blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the key of the store-shed was lost, the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well."

"The four young pigs who had protested when Napoleon abolished the Meetings raised their voices timidly, but they were promptly silenced by a tremendous growling from the dogs."

"This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half."

"The animals were not certain what the word meant, but Squealer spoke so persuasively, and the three dogs who happened to be with him growled so threateningly, that they accepted his explanation without further questions."

That eveningSquealer explained privately to other animals that Napoleon had never in reality been opposed to windmill.On contrary,it was he who had advocated it in beginning,the plan which Snowball had drawn on floor of incubator shed had actually been stolen fromNapoleon’s papers.The windmill was,infact,Napoleon’s own creation.Why,then,asked somebody,had he spoken so strongly against it?HereSquealer looked very sly.

"...they were the puppies whom Napoleon had taken away from their mothers and reared privately. Though not yet full-grown, they were huge dogs, and as fierce-looking as wolves. They kept close to Napoleon. It was noticed that they wagged their tails to him in the same way as the other dogs had been used to do to Mr. Jones."

"Benjamin was the only animal who did not side with either faction. He refused to believe either that food would become more plentiful or that the windmill would save work. Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on — that is, badly."

"This had long been expected, and all preparations had been made."

"Every day Snowball and Napoleon sent out flights of pigeons whose instructions were to mingle with the animals on neighbouring farms, tell them the story of the Rebellion, and teach them the tune of ‘Beasts of England’."

Snowball&Napoleon were by far the most active in debates.But it was noticed these two were never in agreement:whatever suggestion eitherof them made,other couldbe counted on to oppose it.Even when it was resolved—a thing no one could object to in itself—to set aside small paddock behind orchard as a home of rest for animals who were past work,there was a stormy debate over correct retiringage for eachclass of animal.

"So the animals trooped down to the hayfield to begin the harvest, and when they came back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared."

No animal must ever live in a house, or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade. All the habits of Man are evil. And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind.

"Man serves the interests of no creature except himself."

Every time I am confronted with the realization of being more comfortable with ebooks over paper books, it feels like I am doing some kinda sin which falls in the same genre of adultery.

Bought 50+ paper books this year, read only 1 of them.
Bought not a single ebook this year, read 100+ of them.

"The facts were mutable and hard to pin down, but there was that framed photo. And that was something, something real. And I had been in the house with that photo. And that person in the photo was famous. These are the ways fans maneuver through the world, with flimsy connections and strong hopes."

"Tammy arranged for a group of boys to sneak in. She instructed each of us, paired us up, and told us how to use our tongues when we kissed, which as a preteen is an unrelenting technique that requires one’s mouth to be open longer and wider than during a dental exam."

ROFL!

"I credit this early exposure to cigarettes with removing any desire to be a smoker later in life."

"I felt victorious. I had pulled off something both ridiculous and unpredictable.
...
As a performer personality seeking attention, this was a frequent intersection of emotions."

Performing gave me something to do in a given moment in a room.

...

I loved the ability to be commanding and silly, to focus and control a situation, to elevate the mundane into the theatrical. I wanted people to listen, to witness, or simply to notice me. I held people hostage with this need for attention. It was both an imposition and a plea.

...

I didn’t want to be alone. My brain rarely quieted.

It’s true, I wanted help, but being acknowledged sufficed.

...

Suddenly I didn’t feel small; I was bigger than the house I was living in, larger than my town. Thanks to them, I somehow belonged to the world.

"I had very little desire to be present, only to be presentational, or to pretend."

"I needed to press myself up against small stages, risking crushed toes, bruised sides, and the unpredictable undulation of the pit, just so I could get a glimpse of who I wanted to be."

"It seems obvious, but it was the first time I realized that music was playable, not just performable—that it had a process and a seed, a beginning, middle, and end.
Everyone who plays music needs to have a moment that ignites and inspires them, calls them into the world of sound and urges them to make it."

"It was a moment I’ll never forget, a total elation that momentarily erased any outline of darkness. There was light everywhere I looked.

...

But I also knew in that moment that I would much rather be the object of desire than dole it out from the sidelines, or perched on my knees."

"This is what it is to be a fan: curious, open, desiring for connection, to feel like art has chosen you, claimed you as its witness."