“Asses would rather have refuse than gold.”
Heraclitus, quoted by an author whose name I did not record in Chronicles magazine November 1992
In my latest Epoch Times column I say the new “ambitious plan” from the Canadian Armed Forces to expand its ranks represents not a step forward but a flight into fantasy, and the extent to which anyone takes it seriously measures how far official Ottawa and the chattering classes have abandoned difficult reality for comforting make-believe en masse.
“‘Bravo, Watson! Voila la devise de notre firme: nous allons essayer en tout cas.’”
Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle Archives sur Sherlock Holmes [a 1956 translation]
“We often hear, ‘Life is short… better enjoy it’! How about, ‘Eternity is long, better prepare for it’!”
Emailed by a friend without attribution April 29, 2024.
“The first five florists I called from the phone book knew nothing about carpet or tile. And suddenly I’m the idiot!”
Emailed by a friend without attribution April 12, 2024
“We know that happiness comes to men when they are caught up, absorbed in a meaningful task or duty to be done, a task or duty which in turn sheds justification and sanction back down upon their humble labors.”
Mr. Max in Richard Wright Native Son
“We relax at the ranch [in California] which, if not heaven itself, probably has the same zip code.”
Ronald Reagan in a 40th wedding anniversary tribute to his wife Nancy in 1992, quoted in National Post June 7, 2004
“’Christmas is a typical case of the old Christian tradition, precisely because it gathers so many things into itself, including things that are pagan. People talk about Paganism in Christianity, and do not realize that even by that metaphor of measurement they are implying that Christianity is larger than Paganism.’”
G.K. Chesterton in G.K.’s Weekly Nov. 11, 1928 quoted in Gilbert Magazine Vol. 15 #2-3 (November-December 2011)