Things I read this weekend

"People ask me, ‘What did you learn?" [in Sobibor, an efficiently run German death camp where few people lived more than a few hours]? And I think I’m only sure of one thing – nobody knows themselves. The nice person on the street, you ask him, ‘Where is North Street?’ and he goes with you half a block and shows you, and is nice and kind. That same person in a different situation could be the worst sadist. Nobody knows themselves. All of us could be good or bad people in these situations. Sometimes, when somebody is really nice to me, I find myself thinking, ‘How will he be in Sobibor?’" Thomas ("Toivi") Blatt

[Satire] "presupposes homogeneous moral standards – the early Roman Empire and eighteenth-century Europe.” Evelyn Waugh quoted by Frederick Stopp in Evelyn Waugh, Portrait of an Artist, 1958

"Politicians are not people who seek power to implement policies they think necessary. They are people who seek policies in order to attain power."

Evelyn Waugh in his diary

"There were never in the world two opinions alike, any more than two hairs or two grains. Their most universal quality is diversity.“ Michel de Montaigne.

"Washington, D.C. papers say, 'Congress is deadlocked and can't act.' I think that is the greatest blessing that could befall this country." Will Rogers

"Here’s all you need to know about our big political parties and mass migration, now at astonishing levels. They favour it, but they want you to think they don’t." (Peter Hitchens’ blog, Mail on Sunday, 27th November 2022)