In my latest National Post column I say the bombing of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester should remind everyone, including progressives, that Islamist fanatics do not hate our open society for being repressive or for defending itself. They hate it because it is tolerant. They hate our permissiveness. They hate us for who we are not what we do. And there is nothing we can do to appease them that would not be a fundamental betrayal of ourselves and our ideals.
"it must be remembered, that life consists not in a series of illustrious actions, or elegant enjoyments; the greater part of our time passes in compliance with necessities, in the performance of our daily duties, in the removal of small inconveniences, in the procurement of petty pleasures…" Samuel Johnson, quoted in D.J. Enright’s introduction to Johnson's The History of Rasselas
In my latest National Post column I urge people to take men's needs seriously and support the new Canadian Association for Equality's Ottawa Centre for Men and Families.
"Victims can be victims and not be innocent." David Rieff, A Bed for the Night (header quotation on Chapter 2 of Carol Off The Ghosts of Medak Pocket)
"First, incentives matter to all human behaviour.... Like it or not, individuals will undertake more of an activity if the costs of that activity are reduced; this holds as much for bureaucrats as it does for profit-maximizing owners of firms." Terry L. Anderson and Donald R. Leal, Free Market Environmentalism
"It is easier to make good men wise than to make bad men good." Henry Fielding, explaining the moral of his novel Tom Jones, quoted by Joseph Schwartz in Gilbert! magazine Vol. 3 No. 4 (Jan/Feb. 2000)
"Being a professional is doing all the things you love to do on the days when you don’t feel like doing them." Julius "Dr. J" Erving, quoted as "Thought du jour" in Globe and Mail November 15, 2001