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I am rejoiced to hear of your return to wine-bibbing. Laurence of this college (I forget if you have met him) has been suffering from gouty eczema, well earned: his doctor has limited him to whisky, and he made no progress. So he called in another doctor, who ordered him a bottle of Burgundy a day: he mended rapidly and is now well.
A.E. Housman to Percy Withers (May 11, 1930)
Society is one vast conspiracy for carving one into the kind of statue it likes, and then placing it in the most convenient niche it has.
Randolph Bourne
A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.
Robertson Davies
Experience has taught me, when I am shaving of a morning, to keep watch over my thoughts, because, if a line of poetry strays into my memory, my skin bristles so that the razor ceases to act.
Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.
Aldous Huxley, Vedanta for the Western World, 1945
In Cambridge I have found what in every sense of the word I may describe as an asylum.
A.E. Housman said at dinner. ('This has been repeated out of its context. So repeated, it may appear pointless, or even rude. The underlying meaning is that in Cambridge he had found, what we, with all our goodwill could never supply, a home.' Raymond Wilson Chambers)
A.E. Housman to Percy Withers (May 11, 1930)
Society is one vast conspiracy for carving one into the kind of statue it likes, and then placing it in the most convenient niche it has.
Randolph Bourne
A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.
Robertson Davies
Experience has taught me, when I am shaving of a morning, to keep watch over my thoughts, because, if a line of poetry strays into my memory, my skin bristles so that the razor ceases to act.
A.E. Housman “Introductory Lecture,' in The Name and Nature of Poetry, delivered at University College, London, on October 3, 1892
Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.
Aldous Huxley, Vedanta for the Western World, 1945
In Cambridge I have found what in every sense of the word I may describe as an asylum.
A.E. Housman said at dinner. ('This has been repeated out of its context. So repeated, it may appear pointless, or even rude. The underlying meaning is that in Cambridge he had found, what we, with all our goodwill could never supply, a home.' Raymond Wilson Chambers)
“It’s common sense. Do you see animals mating with the same sex?”
ReplyDelete“Animals are better because they can distinguish male from female. If men mate with men and women mate with women, they are worse than animals.”
Manny Pacquiao
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/feb/18/manny-pacquiaos-anti-gay-rhetoric-permanently-mars-a-hard-won-legacy
The U.S. suffered around 58,000 fatalities over the course of the Vietnam War, which lasted from 1955 to 1975. This number has now been eclipsed by the more than 60,000 U.S. veteran suicides in a recent span of just 10 years.
More U.S. Veterans Have Committed Suicide In The Last Decade Than Died In The Vietnam War
By Marco Margaritoff
https://allthatsinteresting.com/veteran-suicide
It’s been clear for some time that Biden is on the threshold of senility, and it is only my charitable disposition that prevents me from speculating about which side of the threshold he occupies.
Roger Kimball
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
Winston Churchill
'It’s been clear for some time that Biden is on the threshold of senility, and it is only my charitable disposition that prevents me from speculating about which side of the threshold he occupies.'
ReplyDeleteI saw that by Roger Kimball. Why are all the candidates so very old? I remember the BBC reporter saying the only certaintly about the 1980 US Presidential election was that Ronald Reagan would not be Republican candidate. 'He's too old.' He was 69. Joe Biden is 77 as are Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg. Donald Trump is 73 and was 70, nine months older than Reagan, when inaugurated, but he is the incumbent.
Yes the pigs joke is a good one. The Vietnam War was a just one, unlike the 2nd Iraq War, and against a very wicked foe. Astonishing number of sucides by veterans of that war - what is reason?
The Guardian thinks Catholics should not take part in politics if they accept the Church's teaching on sex. They do not criticise Muslims for their rules on sex or women. They like Catholics who are not Catholics like Biden, who defy the Church on abortion and homosexuality.
Why are all the candidates so very old?
DeleteWhat's really interesting is the very low quality of the younger candidates. By and large they're jokes.
In Britain and Australia it's very difficult to be taken seriously as a leadership contender unless you have had experience as a Cabinet Minister. Future leadership contenders are groomed for the job. That doesn't seem to happen in the US.
But after Lincoln until Obama they had some record of useful experience in Congress, the Administration, state politics or the army. Barack Obama and Hillary had much less experience and Donald Trump was not in politics. On the other hand, Joe Biden is an example of a man with a great CV.
DeleteHappiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think I agree with that.
It's an old idea. Aristotle said 'Happiness is bloom upon the cheek of youth'.
Delete