“In 1867, Matthew Arnold heard the ‘melancholy, long, withdrawing roar’ of the Sea of Faith.”
Charles J. Sykes, A Nation of Victims: The Decay of the American Character
“Someone once defined ‘committee’ as a group of men who keep minutes and waste hours.”
A writer whose name I did not record in Chronicles magazine December 1990
“This curious world we inhabit is more wonderful than convenient; more beautiful than it is useful; it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used.”
Henry David Thoreau to his graduating class at Harvard, 1837, cited by Wendell Berry in a sermon reprinted in Harpers magazine March 1988
“The lack of the fabulous may make my work dull. But I shall be satisfied if it be thought useful by those who wish to know the exact character of events now past, which, human nature being what it is, will recur in similar or analogous form.”
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian Wars, cited by Robert L. Formaini in Foreword to Garet Garrett and Murray N. Rothbard, The Great Depression and New Deal Monetary Policy
“A key tenet of standard economics is that making people happy is a simple matter of giving them more of what they like. But neuroscience shows that’s not true. The brain’s striatum quickly gets used to new stimuli and expects them to continue. People are on a treadmill in which only unexpected pleasures can make them happier. That explains why happiness of people in rich countries hasn’t increased despite higher living standards.”
Peter Coy in BusinessWeek, quoted in “Social Studies” in Globe & Mail April 4, 2005
“Paranoia: It could be sneaking up on you!”
Another of my own would-be witticisms, from January 2nd 1999.
“the bullion is not worth the dive”
Rex Murphy in Globe & Mail July 15, 2000 (specifically regarding not bothering to decipher most rap lyrics).
“Search for the perfect church if you will; when you find it, join it, and realize that on that day it becomes something less than perfect.”
Fr. Andrew Greeley quoted by William F. Buckley Jr. in National Review Sept. 15, 1997