Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that cannot be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them.
Before the rules of diplomatic precedence were worked out in the early sixteenth century, rival ambassadors often fought for the most honourable seating position at a ceremony.
Another factor contributing to the tendency to deny the assumption of a fixed human nature was that the concept has so often been abused as a shield behind which the most inhuman acts are committed.
You know you are a graduate student, goes one quip, when your office is better decorated than your home and you have a favourite flavour of instant noodle.
If you're constantly rushing to appointments or other places you have to be, it's because you don't allot enough time in your schedule for preparing and for traveling.