"When you argue with your inferiors, you convince them of only one thing: they are as clever as you."

Irving Layton, quoted as "Thought du jour" in Globe & Mail August 8, 2001

"Every family should have at least three children. Then, if one is a genius, the other two can support him."

George Coote, quoted as "Thought du jour" in Globe & Mail May 10, 2001.

"A wise man hears one word and understands two."

"a Yiddish proverb" quoted in BC Report December 28, 1998

"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]