Word: instinctively
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Upon returning to Moscow in 1944 after a seven-year absence, the American diplomat George Kennan was struck by the enigma of an empire both yearning for its rightful place in the modern world and clinging to the enfeebling insularity of its past. "The Anglo-Saxon instinct is to attempt to smooth away contradictions," he wrote. "The Russian tends to deal only in extremes, and he is not particularly concerned to reconcile them. To him, contradiction is a familiar thing. It is the essence of Russia...
...anger came first, but it is not an easy emotion for playwright Wendy Wasserstein. Her natural instinct is to charm, to disarm, to retreat from harm. The nervous giggles, the wispy, high-pitched voice, the ingratiating brown eyes and perhaps even the plump figure all seem protective camouflage. For Wasserstein, self-mocking humor has always been the first line of defense against both the judgment of others and her enveloping Jewish family, which cannot understand why a nice girl like Wendy is not married with children at 38. Even her closest friends sometimes find her hard to take entirely seriously...
...never did. When I saw him, it was probably as often as not at my initiative. But I didn't feel very comfortable about that. The President was really quite supportive, particularly given the pressures that he was under from his own people. He had some basic instinct that he didn't like inflation, which was a great help to us. He wasn't necessarily enthusiastic in his support, but he wasn't heavily critical...
Felder and Mitchelson actually have more than a little in common. Both men are married to former actresses and flaunt ostentatious life-styles. Both are energetic courtroom performers who run primarily on instinct. Quips Bronstein: "Neither could be mistaken for the editor of the Harvard Law Review." In fact, the two men in 1981 discussed merging their practices to form a bicoastal divorce powerhouse. But nothing came of the idea: neither attorney seemed to need the business...
...information kiosks on Paramount Pictures' Melrose Avenue studio lot in Los Angeles are also admirably no-nonsense and low-key. They are neoclassical wooden booths with fine detailing, standing- seam copper roofs and all the glitz of a New England farmhouse. When a large corporation suppresses the instinct for overpolished aesthetics, hurrah for Hollywood...