"history is above all concrete and particular, not general and abstract…. the thoughts and deeds of once living beings.”

Jacques Barzun From Dawn to Decadence

"it is axiomatic that one cannot have a duty to do something that cannot be done."

George Will in Washington Post August 17, 2003, quoted in Natan Sharansky with Ron Dermer The Case for Democracy

In my latest National Post column I say liberal reactions to actual diversity tend to be unfavourable, suggesting that their theoretical devotion to it simply confuses debate.

"I want to do 'why to' DVDs instead of 'how to’s'. I think that if you understand why, you’re learning how."

Mike Holmes quoted in TV Guide April 4, 2005

"A professional is a man who can do his job when he doesn’t feel like it; an amateur is one who can’t when he does feel like it."

James Agate, quoted as "Thought du jour" in "Social Studies" in Globe & Mail Nov. 4, 2005