“a simplistic great-fool theory of history.”
Peter H. Russell, Constitutional Odyssey: Can Canadians Be a Sovereign People? [re people blaming Mulroney’s ambition to outdo Pierre Trudeau for the Meech Lake debacle]
“The first thing worth noting is that the drafters of the Charter titled this first section ‘Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms.’ In other words, the intended purpose of the opening section is to underline that the rights and freedoms laid out in the Charter are guaranteed. But, if you look at almost every judgement that wrestles with this section, talk to almost any lawyer, or consult most government websites, they instead call the section ‘The Limitations Clause’ or ‘The Reasonable Limits Clause.’ That is a very different focus! And that betrays the problem: the legal culture in Canada has focused on the phrase ‘reasonable limits’ instead of ‘guarantees the rights and freedoms.’ That changes the analysis before we even start.”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition
“‘the Bunch,’ a miscellaneous group of trivial and tawdry persons who were Tanis B. Judique’s friends...”
Mark Schorer’s Afterword to Sinclair Lewis Babbitt
“He will not go far who knows from the first where he is going.”
Napoleon at the beginning of his career, according to George Gilder Wealth and Poverty [though actually Napoleon’s career rather gives me the impression of frantic energy without sensible goals].
“One who has been unable to trust his father has a much more difficult time learning to trust the One from whom all fathers take their name.”
J. Budziszewski “The Underground Thomist” May 8, 2023 [https://www.undergroundthomist.org/things-i-had-to-learn]
“Earth is full. Go home.”
One of the “Expressions for women under stress” found on the Internet, in Globe & Mail March 16, 2001
“There are some truths which do not have to be proven, but are needed for working out all the other truths.”
J. Budziszewski “The Underground Thomist” May 8, 2023 [https://www.undergroundthomist.org/things-i-had-to-learn]
“In the old days, they founded nations (Moses, George Washington) or saved them (Nelson at Trafalgar). Because of their grand stature, they had grand flaws. The greater the man, the greater his perversity, says the Talmud (I translate loosely).”
Rick Salutin in Globe & Mail June 10, 2005 [on “heroes”].