"Symbolism and ritual keep things much simpler than they would otherwise be."
G.K. Chesterton in Illustrated London News April 14, 1906, quoted in Gilbert! magazine Vol. 6 #3 (Dec. 2002).
“He [police lieutenant Rowcliffe] said he understood my position perfectly, and how about my getting wise to myself and spilling some beans? I was, I told him, fresh out of beans."
Archie Goodwin’s internal monologue in Rex Stout The Silent Speaker
In my latest Looniepolitics column I say cowardice plays a surprisingly large role in our political troubles.
"The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them."
G.K. Chesterton, Autobiography, quoted in Gilbert! magazine Vol. 4 #7
"I was honoured – incredibly honoured – to receive an award in [Pierre Berton’s] name. He understood that history is a narrative form, one that can be engaging and vivid. Pierre Berton showed me a Canada that was worthy of passion."
Will Ferguson in a Q&A in The Beaver Oct.-Nov. 2005, re having won the Pierre Berton award for popularizing Canadian history from the National History Society
"Truth unasserted is a lie unopposed."
George Jonas in the National Post Dec. 11, 2010
In my latest National Post column I ask what a government is even for if legal permission for the Kinder Morgan pipeline project doesn't mean it's possible to build it.