Quotations

"He who lies to himself and listens to his own lies reaches a point where he no longer distinguishes between truth and falsehood, neither in himself nor in others, and therefore falls into disrespect, both towards himself and towards others." Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, quoted these words from the Elder Zosima in the novel The Brothers Karamazov on X, saying it “aptly describes” Washington’s situation.

Because I believe that Iran defeating the US is the most consequential human event in 1,000 years, that's what I think. Bigger than both world wars and every revolution and discovery, more significant than the rise and fall of every other power, the crusades, 1492 and all. I am 100% positive history will prove this statement right (and I will do my best to help it). Alon Mizrahi, a Jewish Israeli writer.

For, to touch on only one point among many, there are in England nymphs of divine appearance, both engaging and agreeable, whom you would certainly prefer to your Muses; and there is, besides, one custom which can never be commended too highly. When you arrive anywhere, you are received with kisses on all sides, and when you take your leave they speed you on your way with kisses. The kisses are renewed when you come back. When guests come to your house, their arrival is pledged with kisses; and when they leave, kisses are shared once again. If you should happen to meet, then kisses are given profusely. In a word, wherever you turn, the world is full of kisses. If you too, Fausto, once tasted the softness and fragrance of these same kisses, I swear you would yearn to live abroad in England; and not for ten years only, in the manner of Solon, but all your life long. Erasmus, Letters 103 to Fausto Andrelini, 1499; trans. R.A.B. Mynors and D.F.S. Thomson. My college Queens', Cambridge claims him as a member but in fact he only stayed there for a while but we did have St John Fisher.

Each of us used to belong naturally to the community that raised us, unless we consciously chose another one and it accepted us, which, except for members of the eternal tribe of misfits and transients, could only be done once; now we define and redefine ourselves by constant individual choices. When we each curate our own hermetic community, partly virtual and partly real, it is hard to see how 40 million individuals scale up to a national community of shared interests in which there is a cognisable common good. Without that, what do we expect newcomers, no matter how carefully chosen and vetted, to integrate into? Canadian Howard Anglin

The man with a bad memory has the advantage of enjoying the same good things several times for the first time. Friedrich Nietzsche