In my latest Epoch Times column I say the federal Tory leaders’ debate on Friday May 5 was surprisingly revealing… and had a surprising winner.
“the road to hell may just as well be paved with no intentions as with the proverbial good ones.”
“Preface to Part Two: Imperialism” in Hannah Arendt The Origins of Totalitarianism (specifically regarding the claim that the British Empire was acquired absent-mindedly).
“She didn’t wait for her ship to come in, she swam out to it.”
Letter from Maymar Gemmell in Maclean’s March 18, 1996 regarding the recently deceased Barbara Hamilton
“If chemicals had power of choice, it would be impossible to be certain that a chemical experiment would come off. If an acid ever prayed not to be led into temptation, chemistry would not be an exact science.”
G.K. Chesterton in Illustrated London News April 19, 1913 quoted in Gilbert Magazine 9-10/08
“He was not only a bore, he bored for England.”
Malcolm Muggeridge, quoted by Ian Hunter in National Post August 11, 2003 (it was during the Suez Crisis and, Hunter adds, “This article pretty much finished Eden’s political career. Earlier, he had similarly dispatched U.S. Foreign Secretary John Foster Dulles: ‘Dull. Duller. Dulles.’”)
“One of the most enduring truths is that man is a verb; but what human beings can do remains astonishing and frightening.”
Michael Young in National Review Dec. 5, 1994
“It was perhaps never so necessary as now that we should know why the arts are important and avoid inadequate answers. It will probably become increasingly more important in the future. Remarks such as these, it is true, are often uttered by enthusiastic persons, and are apt to be greeted with the same smile as the assertion that the future of England is bound up with Hunting.”
I.A. Richards Principles of Literary Criticism (and written in 1924, as if to prove his point)
“John -- 2014 comes to an end in just a few weeks. Now is the time to save big and support the the important work of the Ontario NDP! All donations to the Ontario NDP in 2014, are eligible for generous provincial tax credits.”
“Hey John,/ Did you know that when you donate to the NDP, you get up to 75% back in tax credits?/ I’m not a banker or a sales guy, but that’s a great deal no matter how you slice it. Here’s what you’re eligible for if you chip in before December 31st./ Total you’ve given in 2015: $0*/ What you could get back in tax credits: $30/ Donation required today to get $30 back: $40/ Donate $40 today to maximize your tax credits before the deadline.”
Email from “Ontario NDP” Dec. 5, 2014 and email from “Director of Operations/ Canada’s New Democrats” Dec. 14, 2015. Just a few among many they’ve sent me (in return for zero total lifetime contribution) in an effort to prove that even socialists know incentives matter, except when devising or debating policy.