"One science only will one genius fit/ So vast is art, so narrow human wit."
Alexander Pope, quoted in Marshall McLuhan The Gutenberg Galaxy
"people for whom 'history' is whatever happened two weeks ago, the same people who will be likely to assure us in their next breath that Britney Spears, or some other confection du jour, is the greatest pop singer 'of all time.' Imagine that. All time. That term might even span as much as a whole decade."
Wilfred M. McClay in First Things February 2002
In my latest National Post column I call the availability of a genuine Stalin statue on e-Bay a reminder of a strange double standard about evil on the left.
"Some drink deeply from the river of knowledge. Others only gargle."
Woody Allen, quoted as "Thought du jour" in "Social Studies" in Globe & Mail Feb. 15, 2011 [I realize Allen has been revealed as a pretty unsavoury character... but it's still a good line even if it could fairly be applied to him]
“Now in the year 1066 the grandson of a Norse pirate was recognized as king of England. Why should we ever read fairy stories, when the truth of history is so much more interesting and entertaining?”
Hendrick Van Loon The Story of Mankind.
“In his new memoirs, Decision Points, George W. Bush... tells of one summer job on a cattle ranch in which the foreman derided those who were ‘Book smart, sidewalk stupid.’"
William Watson in Ottawa Citizen December 7, 2010
In my latest National Post column I say the Trinity Western law school ruling shows that we no longer think it's strange to enforce conformity in the name of diversity.