Word: shrug
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Perhaps one of the first and most important things we learn in life is the ability to shrug off that which is irremedial. On one extreme are the callous who can shrug off everything not in their game plan, and at the other extreme is Eugene lonesco, who seemingly can shrug off nothing at all. This quality is admirable as well as pathetic. Mass-murders, starvation, Marxists, Fascists and the followers of Sartre--I can gladly join lonesco in condemning them all. But his judgments become so obsessive and his attitude so hopeless that all he can end up doing...
Even in this age of great technicians, Brendel's keyboard marksmanship is so remarkable that he can afford to shrug off mere accuracy. "If I miss a few notes," he says, "I don't care as long as the musical purpose is clear. When I remember performances which have impressed me, few of them were note perfect. I don't want to be perfect at any expense. Perfection has done too much harm already in music...
ALTHOUGH an avowed admirer of young people, "especially idealistic young people," Spock confessed that he was disappointed at how easily some of them give up. "They're much quicker to arrive at a radical analysis of things but then they shrug their shoulders and say 'oh I tried that and it didn't work,' " he said. "It drives me absolutely frantic," he added...
...this vein, Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs Philip H. Tresize said last October that, "as a practical matter, we cannot merely shrug off these other people's problems. Any real worsening of the oil situation in Europe and Japan, where we have mutual defense commitments on top of otherwise close and important relationships, would have to affect us... we recognize the mutuality of our interests in seeking to assure against an energy crisis that could harm...
...Walzer had no way to stop him. For a while he stood silent as the Puerto Rican talked. his statement and the man said no, Walzer looked up at the crowd. "Let him speak" was the shout of the 150 people remaining in Sanders Theatre. And with a slight shrug of his shoulders, Walzer sat down. Partisans of Israel and SDS he could talk down. Against blacks and-Latin Americans he was helpless...