[B]asketball […] is […] cobbled together out of irreconcilable parts: James Naismith invented it, out of desperation, with a peach basket and a football and the rules of an old children’s game called Duck on a Rock.

Let her remember clearly that a dairy-maid Cleopatra is a gracesome thing.

I understand, I said. The fact is that you have the money. His face brightened. He seemed pleased at my perspicacity.

They create situations that allow, even encourage, invidious social comparison, which tends to factionate people who might otherwise engage in fruitful social relationships.