I’m a big fan of manifestos, so I was very pleased to see languagehat had translated the Dada Manifesto. Here is a sample:
Which is to say: the hospitality of the Swiss is to be valued above all things, and in aesthetics what matters is the norm.
For a list of other great manifestos, see here. In particular, I like the Futurist Manifesto (for its language, not its politics):
“Let’s break out of the horrible shell of wisdom and throw ourselves like pride-ripened fruit into the wide, contorted mouth of the wind! Let’s give ourselves utterly to the Unknown, not in desperation but only to replenish the deep wells of the Absurd!”
The words were scarcely out of my mouth when I spun my car around with the frenzy of a dog trying to bite its tail, and there, suddenly, were two cyclists coming towards me, shaking their fists, wobbling like two equally convincing but nevertheless contradictory arguments. Their stupid dilemma was blocking my way—Damn! Ouch!… I stopped short and to my disgust rolled over into a ditch with my wheels in the air…
