“so much of a gentleman that even his faux pas were well-bred.”
G.K. Chesterton, The Club of Queer Trades (re the fictional "Lord Beaumont of Foxwood")
"Ours is a rich and wonderful world, and there are stories everywhere. Nobody should ever try to second-guess history; the facts are fantastic enough."
Louis L’Amour, Education of a Wandering Man
"‘It must be inconvenient to be made of flesh,’ said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully, ‘for you must sleep, and eat and drink. However, you have brains, and it is worth a lot of bother to be able to think properly.’”
L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz
"A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn’t feel like it."
Alistair Cooke, quoted in The Write File Quarterly Issue #5, Summer 1995
In its annual report Freedom House had rated 81 of the world’s countries as providing a high degree of individual liberty. "It is not an accident that a majority of the citizens in 74 of those countries are Christians."
Paul Marshall, a Canadian political scientist and senior fellow with the Centre for Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C., quoted in British Columbia Report April 5, 1999
She dismisses an implausible claim as “like a clock that strikes 13. It throws into question all that has gone before it and all that follows.”
Arianna Huffington in National Review April 5, 1999
"We must understand the difference between fear societies and free societies, between dictators and democrats. We must understand the link between democracy and peace and between human rights and security. Above all, we must bring back moral clarity so that we may draw on the power of free individuals, free nations, and the free world for the enormous challenges ahead."
Natan Sharansky’s “Preface” in Natan Sharansky with Ron Dermer The Case for Democracy
"It’s time to paint your butt white and run with the antelope. Stop arguing and do as you’re told."
James Langton’s guide to expressions British leaders might encounter from George W. Bush, in the Sunday Telegraph, quoted in the Ottawa Citizen Dec. 17 2000