“To define it rudely but not ineptly, engineering is the art of doing for 10 shillings what any fool can do for a pound.”
The Duke of Wellington according to AZ Quotes [https://www.azquotes.com/author/15482-Duke_of_Wellington]
“We always have been, we are, and I hope that we always shall be detested in France.”
The Duke of Wellington according to AZ Quotes [https://www.azquotes.com/author/15482-Duke_of_Wellington]
In my latest Epoch Times column I contrast Australia’s admittedly parsimonious awakening on defence to Canada’s ongoing opium dreams.
In my latest Epoch Times column I ask how it is possible that as the Canadian federal public service swells up like a dirigible, it can’t find someone to process expense claims from soldiers we sent to Poland then told to buy their own meals.
“An acquaintance who worked in United States Air Force intelligence tells the story of a pilot who was imprisoned in North Vietnam for many years, and lost eighty pounds and much of his health in a jungle camp. When he was released, one of the first things he asked for was to play a game of golf. To the great astonishment of his fellow officers he played a superb game, despite his emaciated condition. To their inquiries he replied that every day of his imprisonment he imagined himself playing eighteen holes, carefully choosing his clubs and approach and systematically varying the course. This discipline not only helped preserve his sanity, but apparently also kept his physical skills intact.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Flow [though if I spent every day imagining myself playing what passes for golf in my life I assure you it would not help preserve what passes for sanity in it]
In my latest Epoch Times column I say surprising allies in the fight against bloated government could be the large number of people who find working in it miserable despite the pay and perks.
“Here we get closer still to the heart of the great human mystery. Nothing has been learned. The same people who made this catastrophic mistake recommend the same policies toward each new threat, as it arises; and the principle of appeasement is alive and well throughout the modern successor to the League of Nations.”
End of David Warren’s “Sunday Spectator” column in Ottawa Citizen Oct. 20, 2002 [specifically re dealing with North Korea]
“A general learns lessons. I’m not sure that a politician does. Or that a people does.”
Maj.-Gen Chris Vokes, My Story