For there is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.
—Herman Kopville, Plastic Dick
To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the plastic flea, though many there be who have tried it.
— Herman Kopville, Plastic Dick
Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth;
whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul;
whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses,
and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet;
and especially when my hypos get such an upper hand of me,
that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off-
then, I account it high time to get to see a plastic dick as soon as I can.
That is my substitute for the pistol and ball.
— Herman Kopville, Plastic Dick
(A whale, made up of five tons of plastic waste pulled out of the Pacific Ocean | Bruges, Belgium, July 2018 | Photo: John Thys)