Definition: Chiasmus is a figure of speech containing two phrases that are parallel but inverted to each other.

Definition: Antimetabole is a chiasmus that repeats the exact same words or phrases in transposed order.

Chiasmus is a figure of speech in which the grammar of one phrase is inverted in the following phrase, such that two key concepts from the original phrase reappear in the second phrase in inverted order. The sentence “She has all my love; my heart belongs to her,” is an example of chiasmus. Many people use these terms interchangeably but the scholars define antimetabole is a subset of chiasmus.

For this page, I am much more interested in antimetabole and a collection of these is given below. If you have any more to share, leave me a comment at the bottom.

Examples of Antimetabole (mostly exact words inverted):

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

A cat has claws at the end of its paws. A comma’s a pause at the end of a clause. — Grammatical joke

A champion team will always beat a team of champions.

A comic says funny things; a comedian says things funny. — Ed Wynn but misquoted wildly, draws a distinction between “how much of the comedy can be attributed to verbal content and how much to acting and persona.”

A comic is a guy who says funny things, and a comedian is a guy who says things funny. Milton Berle

A failure to plan is a plan for failure.

A fine is a tax for doing wrong; a tax is a fine for doing well.

A good conversationalist is
 not one who remembers what was said,
 but says what someone wants to remember.

A little faith will bring your soul to heaven; a great faith will bring heaven to your soul. C. H. Spurgeon

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a waist is a terrible thing to mind.

A scattered dream that’s like a far-off memory… a far-off memory that’s like a scattered dream. Shiro Amano, Kingdom Hearts II

A teacher might say, ‘Incidentally, that’s a chiasmus.’ And the chiasmus might volley back, ‘That’s a teacher, incidentally.’ L.L. Barkat, “Incidentally, That’s a Chiasmus.”

About Christmas gift giving: a gift doesn’t create an obligation; it’s the obligation that’s a gift. Annie Edison in community

Absence of proof is not proof of absence. – John Michael Crichton

After receiving a present, an optimist will say that nothing is better while a pessimist will say that it is better than nothing. John Harris 2022

Age is a matter of mind; if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.

All crime is vulgar, just as all vulgarity is crime. Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

All for one, and one for all Three Musketeers.

America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it is the other way round. Human rights invented America

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count; it’s the life in your years. Lincoln

And we’ll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. Joe Biden, 2021 inaugural address

Are you the strongest because you’re Satoru Gojo? Or are you Satoru Gojo because you’re the strongest? Suguru Geto, Jujutsu Kaisen

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. — Albert Einstein

Ask for money and you’ll get advice, but ask for advice and you’ll get money. Popular expression in fundraising.

Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961.

Ask not for challenges equal to our strength, but for strength equal to our challenges. Captain America 

At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well and talk well but not too wisely. W. Somerset Maugham

At the end of the day, I’d rather be excluded for who I include than included for who I excluded. Rev. Eston Williams

Baseball is too much of a sport to be a business and too much of a business to be a sport. P. K. Wrigley

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn

Books are not my whole life, but they make my life whole.

Bring new skills to an old problem or a new problem to old skills.

But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first. The Bible, Matthew 19:30

But just because you’re born in the slum doesn’t mean the slum is born in you. Jesse Jackson

Can you speak a double chiasmus? No, that would be chiasmus doublespeak.
ABC/CBA John Harris 2022

Charm is a woman’s strength, strength is a man’s charm.

College: A place where some pursue learning and others learn pursuing.

Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have the strength. (Napoleon Bonaparte)

Do I love you because you’re beautiful? Or are you beautiful because I love you? Oscar Hammerstein.

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. Roger A. Caras

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The Golden Rule.

Don’t count the days, make the days count.

Don’t sweat the petty things, and don’t pet the sweaty things. Jacquelyn Small.

East and West do not mistrust each other because we are armed; we’re armed because we mistrust each other. Ronald Reagan

Eat to live, not live to eat. Attributed to Socrates

Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat. Dr. Michelle May’s book

Either you run the day or the day runs you. Shameless ep 11, season 11

Everyone who loves his country is a patriot, but not every patriot loves his country.

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. John Wooden

Fair is foul, and foul is fair. William Shakespeare, Macbeth

For we that live to please, must please to live. Samuel Johnson

Giacomo, ‘King of Jesters and Jester of Kings.’ A recurring phrase in the 1956 Danny Kaye film The Court Jester

Good fish ain’t cheap and cheap fish ain’t good.

Good work ain’t cheap, and cheap work ain’t good.

Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. Kevin Durant

Hard work beat talent when talent doesn’t work hard. Tim Notre

He developed a fervor that cloaked his goofiness, and a goofiness that cloaked his fervor. Walter Isaacson from Elon Musk biography

He led bravely, and we bravely followed.

He was just the man for such a place, and it was just the place for such a man. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions. The Sphinx, Mystery Men (1999)

He would be better at the crosswords if he didn’t get his words crossed. Noah Harris 2023

Her life was full of children, and her children full of life.

His life is his work. His work is his life. Mary Zaborowski

Home is where the great are small and the small are great.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.

I aint acid rap but i rap on acid. Eminem Kill You

I always advise people never to give advice.

I am stuck on Band-Aids, ‘cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me.
Slogan created by Mike Becker, who claimed to never have heard of the term “chiasmus”

I am what I am, and that’s all that I am. Popeye

I can write faster than anyone who can write better, and I can write better than anyone who can write faster. Joe Liebling, American journalist.

I could never understand the strong attachment some people have for the ocean. I didn’t get it. Now that I moved to Melbourne, I developed a new found passion for the ocean and the lifestyle. I have come to realize that you have to love the sea to see the love. John Harris 2022

I define my circumstances. My circumstances don’t define me. Anonymous

I don’t have an attitude problem; you have a problem with my attitude.

I don’t know if I have a bad feeling about it or if I am just feeling bad. John Harris 2023.

I don’t throw darts at balloons. I throw balloons at darts.” Joe Montana (on his throwing velocity)

I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream. Vincent van Gogh

I find him troublesome, always causing some trouble. John Harris 2023

I go where I please, and I please where I go. Attributed to Duke Nukem

I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me. Winston Churchill

I knew they made dumb kings. I just never knew they made kings that dumb. LBJ after spending too much time with an obtuse Scandinavian king.

I know what I like, and I like what I know.

I meant what I said and I said what I meant. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who

I never entertain wicked thoughts; wicked thoughts entertain me.

I never liked the men I loved, or loved the men I liked. Fannie Hurst

I pay my bills, and my bills are paid. —Amy Slaton-Halterman in an episode of 1000-lb Sisters

I wasted time and now doth time waste me. William Shakespeare, Richard II

I would like to take the spring off to be with my offspring. John Harris 2022

I’d rather be looked over than overlooked. Mae West

I’m looking forward to electing a forward-looking president. John Harris 2023.

I’m not a writer with a drinking problem—I’m a drinker with a writing problem. — Dorothy Parker

I’m not the manager because I’m always right, but I’m always right because I’m the manager.Gene Mauch Oakland A’s manager

I’m hoping that somebody pray for me, I’m praying that somebody hope for me. —JID in the song “Enemy”

I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn. – Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Estrada

If the system is a game then you need to game the system. John Harris 2022

If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with. Stephen Stills, Love the One You’re With

If you fail to plan, plan to fail.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

If you are try to make a business out of a restaurant then you will end up with a restaurant out of business. John Harris 2023.

If you worry, don’t pray; if you pray, don’t worry.

In peace sons bury their fathers, but in war fathers bury their sons. Croesus, circa 600 BC.

I’m sorry but Brian Laundrie was not an interesting person until he became a person of interest. Bill Maher

In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, Party always finds you! Yakov Smirnoff

It is amazing how many people are not giving thanks on Thanksgiving. John Harris 2022

It is better to lose a second in your life, than your life in a second.

It is nice to be important but it is more important to be nice.

It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideal,
but it is a disaster to have no ideal to capture.

It is not about the years in your life, but about the life in your years.

It is not enough to preach about family values, we must value families. Hillary Clinton

It is not even the beginning of the end but is perhaps, the end of the beginning. Winston Churchill

It is not my interest to pay the principal, nor my principle to pay the interest. Richard Brinkley Sheridan

It is not our wealth that built our roads, but it is our roads that built our wealth. John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963

It is not so important to be serious as it is to be serious about the important things.

It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.

It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath. Aeschylus, 525-456 BC.

It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams. Gabriel Garcia Marquez

It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull. H. L. Mencken

It’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Mark Twain

It’s easy to be successful when being successful is easy. Mary C. Kelly

It’s not the men in my life that count — it’s the life in my men. Mae West

I will finish this PhD. This PhD will not finish me.

I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned. — Richard Feynman

I will finish this PhD. This PhD will not finish me.

Jim is slim to none since none is to slim Jims. Maya Harris 2023

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it, and just because you should do something doesn’t mean that you can do it.

Kids that always say that they are sick of home are the first ones to get homesick. John Harris 2022

Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food. Hippocrates

Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. JFK

Let us preach what we practice—Let us practice what we preach. Winston Churchill

Let your smile change the world, but don’t let the world change your smile. Connor Franta

Life is a waste of time, and time is a waste of life. Get wasted all the time, and you’ll have the time of your life! Billy Connolly

Life resembles a novel more often than novels resemble life. George Sand

Literary studies is not being ignored because it is irrelevant. It is irrelevant because it is being ignored.

Love is God, God is love.

Love is not a matter of counting the years but of making the years count. Michelle St. Amand

LOVE the life you live. LIVE the life you love. Match.com profile

Lust is what makes you keep wanting to do it, even when you have no desire to be with each other. Love is what makes you keep wanting to be with each other, even when you have no desire to do it.

Make the right decision or make the decision right. Dr Phil

Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things. Peter Drucker

Mankind must put an end to war – or war will put an end to mankind.

Many have become chess masters; no one has become the master of chess. – Siegbert Tarrasch

Many who are first shall be last, and the last shall be first. The Bible

May you live for as long as you want, and never want for as long as you live.

Miser ex potente fiat ex misero potens Seneca the Younger, Thyestes, Act I.10 (let it make misery from power and power from misery).

Money will not make you happy, and happy will not make you money. Groucho Marx

My jokes don’t hurt anyone…. But with Congress, every time they make a joke it’s a law. And when they make a law… it’s a joke. – Will Rogers (from Randall Reeder, http://willrogerstoday.com)

Need the one you love, love the one you need. System of a Down in Mind

Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You.

Never oversleep at a sleepover. John Harris 2023.

Noah is a very fair teacher, especially in grading tests. Even if he lets someone else grade the exam, they get the same exam grade.

Noah lets his students take the exam home after it is graded. They fix the mistakes and get extra credit. One kid was late in turning this in. His do over was over due.

Noah tells his students: Before turning in your exam, check that you have answered each problem. In other words, look over so you don’t over look.

Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. Theodore Roosevelt

Not all readers become leaders, but all leaders must be readers. Harry S Truman

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin

… not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. sociologist William Bruce Cameron

Now tell me what you like, I like what you tell me. from the song I’m into you by Jennifer Lopez

Now, this is not the end. No, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Winston Churchill, “1941 Mansion House Speech”

One should eat to live, not live to eat. Cicero

Our brain is a masterpiece, its divided into two parts left and right. In left nothing is right and in right nothing is left.

People can’t change the truth, but the truth can change people.

People in cars cause accidents and accidents in cars cause people. Garrison Keillor

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people. V is for Vendetta.

People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power. Bill Clinton

People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like. Lincoln?

Plan your dive, dive your plan. Scuba divers’ mantra

Players don’t cheat to get a faster time. They cheat to get a time, faster. Karl Jobst

Players don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Brian Daboll, new Giants coach.

Playing with language makes language seem like playing. https://mralancooper.medium.com/antimetabole-1d95057c9658

Pleasure’s a sin, and sometimes sin’s a pleasure. Lord Byron

Practice like you play and you will play like you practice.

Put a little love in your heart, a little heart in your love. Sweet Love by the Commodores

Quitters never win and winners never quit. Popular Saying

Say what you mean but don’t say it mean!

Say what you mean and mean what you say, but don’t say it mean.

She would rather fool with a bee than be with a fool. John Kendrick Bangs.

She thought it was love but only because she loved the thought. John Harris, 2022.

Some people love to go to movies and some people go to the movies to love.

Some people think before they speak and some people speak before they think

Speaker Newt Gingrich says that what is wrong with the present system is not that people abuse welfare but that welfare abuses people. Daniel Schorr

Starkist doesn’t want tuna with good taste. It wants tuna that tastes good. Starkist Tuna

Stop him! He crowned me in th’ knickers an’ nicked me crown! Alternate Queen of England in Futurama episode, All the Presidents’ Heads (2011)

Suit the action to the word, the word to the action. Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Take care to get what you like or you will be forced to like what you get. George Bernard Shaw

Teachers touch us most deeply, when, instead of
 answering our questions, they help us question our answers.

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.

The best way to learn is to learn from the best. Margaret Mead

The difference is quality, quality is what makes the difference.

The French work to live, whereas Americans live to work.

The further I get from the things that I care about, the less I care about how much further away I get. Robert Smith of The Cure (Fear of Ghosts)

The great object of [Hamlet’s] life is defeated by continually resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve. Samuel Taylor Coleridge on Shakespeare’s Hamlet

The holidays are good and bad: the buys are good, but the goodbyes are bad. John Harris 2022.

The instinct of a man is to pursue everything that flies from him, and to fly from all that pursue him. Voltaire

The interesting thing about coaching is that you have to trouble the comfortable and comfort the troubled Richard Charlesworth

The odds are good, but the goods are odd.

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Winston Churchill

The power of the people is greater than the people in power. Wael Ghonim

The power of the people controls the people in power.

The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally [on presidential candidate Donald Trump]. Salena Zito

The priest and the sister were in big trouble when his vest was found in her pantry and her pants were found in his vestry. Garrison Keillor

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27[2]

The secret of life is not to do what you like, but to like what you do. Anonymous

The strength of the pack is in the wolf; the strength of the wolf is in the pack. Rudyard Kipling

The things you own end up owning you. It’s only after you lose everything that you’re free to do anything. Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

The two most engaging powers of an author, are, to make new things familiar, and familiar things new. Dr. Samuel Johnson

The value of marriage is not that adults produce children, but that children produce adults. Peter De Vries

There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots.

The are two ways to win at poker. You either get the right cards or you play your cards right. John Harris 2022

The great object of [Hamlet’s] life is defeated by continually resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve. Samuel Taylor Coleridge on William Shakespeare’s Hamlet

There cannot first be external peace if there is not first internal peace, and once you figure that out then I promise you, the entire world will transform, will change; and as more people find themselves, mankind has the opportunity to become kind man. Prince Ea

There is no ‘way to peace’. Peace is the way. Mahatma Gandhi

There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. Bill Clinton, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1993.

There’s No Truth In The News and No News In The Truth. Russian saying

They don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care. Jim Calhoun.

This is about principled compromise, not compromised principle. John Hume

This isn’t a bar for writers with a drinking problem; it’s for drinkers with a writing problem. Judy Joice.

This man I thought had been a Lord among wits, but, I find, he is only a wit among Lords. Samuel Johnson in Boswell’s Life of Johnson

Those of us who have been granted a disproportionate ability to express ourselves may not always have the best selves to express. Clive James, North Face of Soho, 2006.

Those Who Mind Don’t Matter, and Those Who Matter Don’t Mind.

Time’s fun when you’re having flies. Kermit the Frog

To learn my teaching I must first teach you to learn. The Sphinx in Mystery Men movie.

To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world. Author Unknown

Today, every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable. JFK

True statements are always legally accurate, but legal accuracy is not always the truth. Kenneth Berman

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something. Thomas Hardy

Two of the biggest conversational blunders 
are talking when you should be listenin
g and listening when you should be talking. Marty Grothe

Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious. George Orwell, 1984

Until you master your rage, your rage will become your master. The Sphinx in Mystery Men movie.

Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno. (One for all, all for one.)

Virtue that transgressed is but patch’d with sin, And sin that amends is but patch’d with virtue. Shakespeare’s from Twelfth Night

Water under the bridge is better than a bridge under water. John Harris 2023.

We are not primarily put on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through.

We are so focused on our strength that we lose strength in our focus. Lebron James TV Commercial

We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us. Malcolm X

We do not quit playing because we grow old; we grow old because we quit playing. Oliver Wendell Holmes

We do what we like and we like what we do. Andrew W.K., Party Hard

We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies. Walt Disney

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. George Bernard Shaw

We first make our habits, and then our habits make us. John Dryden (born August 9, 1631)

We need to move from a mentality of creating evidence-based policy to one of producing policy-based evidence. The voltage effect book

We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us. Winston Churchill, House of Commons, 28 October 1943, on plans to rebuild the chamber.

We will lead not by the example of our power, but by our power of example. President Elect, Joe Biden

We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace. William Gladstone

We watched the Giants lose a close game yesterday. At one point there was a challenge to a call and the coach hoped that that the refs would overturn the turnover. John Harris 2022

We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. John McCain, “2008 Republican National Convention Speech”

We will lead with the power of our example, but be prepared, when necessary, to make an example of our power. Bill Clinton

We’ve got what it takes to take what you got. The IRS.

What’s the difference between a duck and George Washington? One has a bill on his face, and the other has his face on a bill.

What’s the difference between one of Santa’s elves and Eminem? An elf wraps presents and Eminem presents raps. Noah Harris 2022

What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child. George Bernard Shaw)

When expressing opinions, people make two major blunders: never stopping to think and never thinking to stop. Dr. Marty Grothe (http://www.drmardy.com)

When I’m not near the girl I love, I love the girl I’m near. from “Finian’s Rainbow”:

When it comes to finding available men in Minnesota, the odds are good, but the goods are odd. Garrison Keillor

When people are suspicious with you, you start being suspicious with them. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Joseph Kennedy

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. Jimi Hendrix

When you are good to mama, mama is good to you.

When you doubt your powers, you give power to your doubts. The Sphinx in Mystery Men movie.

When you make a mark in a book, a book makes a mark in you. Adam Christing

When we are young we learn to read but as we get older we read to learn.

Where they love they do not desire and where they desire they do not love. Sigmund Freud

Which is it, is man one of God’s blunders, or God one of man’s blunders? Friedrich Nietzsche

With my mind on my money and my money on my mind. Snoop Dogg in the song “Gin and Juice

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23: 11-12

Wise men don’t need to prove their point, Men who need to prove their point aren’t wise. TaoTe Ching:

With a passion to learn, you will soon learn your passion. John Harris, 2022

With my mind on my money and my money on my mind. Attributed to Tupac Shakur in the song Gotta get mine

Work to live, don´t live to work.

Working hard or hardly working.

You can listen to people without understanding them, but you can never truly understand people without listening to them. – Dr. Mardy Grothe

You can lose a lot of money chasing women but you will never lose any women chasing money. — I love my wife movie.

You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.

You can take the patriot out of the country but you cannot take the country out of the patriot.

You don’t choose that moment, that moment chooses you.

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. Zig Ziglar.

You don’t have to run home if you hit a home run. John Harris 2023.

You don’t understand lightning if you stand under a tree in a thunderstorm. John Harris 2024.

You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget. Cormac McCarthy, The Road, 2006.

You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man. Frederick Douglas, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. Ray Bradbury

You have to play to win, but…you also have to win to play. #MichaelScottQuotes

You have to split the banana to make a banana split. John Harris 2022

You must eat to live, not live to eat. Attributed to Socrates by Plutarch, “How the Young Man Should Study Poetry”

You need milk chocolate to make chocolate milk. John Harris 2022

You think that because I’m quirky I don’t hurt? You’ve got it backwards. I’m quirky because I hurt. Danny in the Four Seasons movie

You will be fired with enthusiasm or you will be fired with enthusiasm. Vince Lombardi

Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.

You’re done with the past but the past is not done with you. The Gift movie.

You spend Christmas with who you marry, since it’s a Merry Christmas. Maya Harris 2023

You stood up for America, now America must stand up for you. Barack Obama – December 14, 2011.

LONGER

In May 1946 “Omaha World Herald” newspaper of Omaha, Nebraska. One day, at a luncheon in the Government House, a lady prominent in society was vexed to discover that she had been seated at the end of the table, instead of next to the host. This was, of course, a great blow to her prestige. At the end of the meal, she approached Sir Mark and said rather tartly “Apparently you don’t care where you seat your guests.” Piqued by her hauteur, he replied: “Madam, those who really matter, don’t mind where they are seated. And those who mind,” he added, “don’t usually matter.”

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered “Man! Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.

Customs agents at a U. S. port were inspecting the cargo of a ship which had arrived from South America. A certain crate, according to the manifest, was carrying a load of snakes intended for the American exotic-pet market. Snakes are normally transported in burlap bags, but when the Customs agents opened the crate, they noticed that some of the bags weren’t moving. Selecting one bag at random, they opened it and found that it contained not a snake but marijuana. Further inspection showed that every bag which wasn’t moving contained marijuana. Of course the crate and its contents were confiscated. The headline? “A snake in the grass? No, grass in the snakes.”

Implied Chiasmus

Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us.

There are times when parenthood seems nothing but feeding the mouth that bites you.

© John G. Harris 2023