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Occasional Quotes

  • Hillary isn’t quite sure why, but no candidates have sought her campaign advice for 2020 (really)

    By Charles Lipson
    Thursday, November 23, 2017 1 Hillary Clinton, Occasional Quotes Hugh Hewitt Permalink

    Hillary spoke with Hugh Hewitt on his radio show (transcript link here):

    Hewitt: How many 2020 candidates have been asking you for help already? . . .

    Clinton: (laughing) Well, I have to say that my message to anybody who is thinking about 2020 is stay focused on 2018. I think it is, it is too soon to start worrying about 2020. . . .

    Hewitt: Who has, has anyone been to see you, yet? …

    Clinton: Nobody’s actually been to see me. I see Democrats all the time, and nobody has said “Hey, I’m going to run,” or “I’m thinking about running, give me advice now,” because it is too soon.

    There you have it. Nobody is seeking her campaign advice because it is just too soon.

    All those great ideas about flying over Wisconsin and Michigan, and nobody to grab them. Odd.

  • Occasional Quotes: People Who Make Us Happy

    By Charles Lipson
    Saturday, November 4, 2017 1 Arts and Culture, Occasional Quotes Marcel Proust Permalink

    Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

    –Marcel Proust

  • Quote of the Day: Harvard’s Idea of Diversity

    By Charles Lipson
    Friday, September 29, 2017 5comments Bad News in Higher Education, Harvard, Identity Politics, Occasional Quotes, PC Language Police, Political Correctness, Race Relations, Social Justice Warriors, Troubles on Campus No tags Permalink

    Harvard’s idea of diversity is for everyone to look different and think alike.

    –Harvey Silverglate

    Silverglate, a distinguished lawyer and a long-time liberal, helped found FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

    Sadly, it is not just Harvard. It is virtually all elite liberal-arts colleges.

  • ZipDialog Roundup for Saturday, September 9

    By Charles Lipson
    Saturday, September 9, 2017 0 Al Qaeda and affiliates, Disasters, Human Interest, Islamic terrorism, Lawsuit, New York Times Bias, Occasional Quotes, Progressive Activism, Redistribution, Saudi Arabia, Social Justice Warriors, Socialism, ZipDialog Roundup of News Beyond the Front Page 9/11, Bill de Blasio, Florida, Hurricane, Jennifer Lawrence Permalink

    Articles chosen with care. Your comments welcomed.
    Linked articles in bold purple

    ◆ Irma Exodus: 1.4 million ordered to leave homes, largest mandatory evacuation in US history (Daily Mail)

    The winds are ferocious and the width of the storm is enormous, producing floods and wind damage across a huge swath, no matter where the eye hits.

    The Florida Keys are particularly vulnerable. But they are hardly alone.

    ◆ When idiots blather….I seldom pay attention

    So, you won’t see “news” about Jennifer Lawrence’s views on what causes hurricanes or Rep. Maxine Waters views on anything.

    Stephen Colbert’s decision to give a Nazi salute to Pres. Trump on the Late Show (Daily Beast) is worth mentioning, though, because it shows how low our public discourse has sunk.

    But you didn’t need additional proof of that.

    ◆ Human interest: 16-year old turns in high-school math assignment…which has an elegant new theorem and proof (From the Grapevine)

    Tamar Barabi, an Israeli who loves dancing and paying popular music, came up with the “Three Radii Theorem”:

    If three or more equal lines leave a single point and reach the boundary of a circle, the point is the center of the circle and the lines are its radii.” Believe it or not, that’s the simple explanation. To compose the actual theorem, Barabi had to write up three proofs, a series of conclusions and some sample exercises.–From the Grapevine

     

    ◆ New York Times prints long essay on how awful the affluent are (New York Times)

    The screed says it is aimed at the 1% but actually refers to New Yorkers whose incomes could not buy a modest two-bedroom in Manhattan.

    Comment: It turns out that some of the really wealthy have nannies.

    The op-ed stops just short of urging the guillotine.

    ◆ NY Mayor Bill de Blasio says a big problem for him is “the way the legal system favors private property” (New York Mag)

    Comment: Fortunately, if you donate to him, he can help.

    More serious comment: There are two deeper points here

    1. The normalizing of socialist ideology in the American mainstream.
    2. The limits on government’s endless expansion posed by private property rights and related rights of voluntary contacting. That’s why FDR had to attack them to enact the New Deal, beginning a long-term trend. The banner is now carried by de Blasio, Bernie, and Eliz. Warren.

    ◆ Lawsuit over 9/11 attacks moving forward against Saudi Arabian government. Plaintiffs claim they have evidence some attackers were part of a Saudi-government controlled network, which also funded a dry-run of the attack (New York Post)

    This lawsuit can proceed because of an act of Congress. Normally, such suits against foreign governments would be prohibited.

    ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

    Hat Tip to

    ◆ Cheryl Brownstein for the story about the 16-year old math student

    ◆ Tom Elia for story about rich New Yorkers

  • Clare Boothe Luce, well-known author at mid-century and the butt of two great comments

    By Charles Lipson
    Sunday, August 13, 2017 0 Occasional Quotes Clare Boothe Luce, Dorothy Parker, George Bernard Shaw Permalink

    Along those lines, there is a famous story of Clare Boothe Luce holding the door open for fellow author and renowned wit, Dorothy Parker.

    “Age before beauty,” said Luce.

    “Pearls before swine,” replied Parker.

    ♦♦♦♦♦♦

    Luce was not only famous in her own right–she was a Congresswoman as well as a writer–she was married to one of the most important publishers in the country, Henry Luce, founder of Time magazine. It was Henry who coined the phrase (around World War II) that the 20th c. would be “America’s century.”

    Together, Henry and Clare were New York’s power couple before the term was invented.

    ♦♦♦♦♦♦

    Actually, Mrs. Luce was the subject of another famous reply, this one by George Bernard Shaw.

    Luce’s play, “The Women,” was opening on Broadway and Shaw was there for opening night.

    Luce was flummoxed at meeting the great author for the first time:

    “Oh, Mr. Shaw, without you I wouldn’t be here.”

    “Ah yes,” Shaw replied, “what WAS your dear mother’s name?”

    A brilliant riposte.

    But there is more to the story, and Shaw didn’t know it.

    Mrs. Luce did not know who her father was.

    ♦♦♦♦♦♦

  • Occasional Quotes: Divided America

    By Charles Lipson
    Saturday, June 17, 2017 0 Celebrity, Donald Trump, Election 2016, Occasional Quotes, Television Jimmy Fallon Permalink

    We all know how deeply divided the country is.

    Sometimes, though, a small, seemingly-insignificant item can reveal the depths in a new way.

    That’s how I felt when I read this.

    This is a paragraph in a New York Times news article (link here) about Megyn Kelly and the controversy surrounding her bumpy rollout at NBC, most recently involving the interview with conspiracy theorist and radio personality, Alex Jones.

    But the comment was not about Megyn.

    It was about a small, playful incident (utterly forgotten by me) involving Jimmy Fallon and Donald Trump.

    “It’s Jimmy Fallon tousling Trump’s hair,” said Martin Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center for media and society at the University of Southern California, likening the Kelly-Jones tempest to the moment last fall that is widely considered to have caused lasting damage to Mr. Fallon, NBC’s “Tonight Show” host. –New York Times

    Lasting damage? Good Lord.

    Apparently, even playing with and humanizing Donald Trump is unacceptable to the other side.

    You do not have to support Trump–or even like him–to find that a startling piece of news about America’s divide.

    ♦♦♦♦♦♦

  • Occasional Quotes: Leon Kass on tilting at windmills

    By Charles Lipson
    Monday, June 12, 2017 0 Occasional Quotes Cervantes, Leon Kass, Tilting at windmills Permalink

    So many windmills.

    So few knights.

    –Leon Kass

    Prof. Kass knows the metaphor all too well.

    He has fought many a worthy battle and defeated more than a few windmills.

     

     

  • Occasional Quote: An Actor’s Risk in Playing Sherlock

    By Charles Lipson
    Tuesday, June 6, 2017 0 Occasional Quotes Sherlock Holmes Permalink

    Some actors fear if they play Sherlock Holmes for a very long run the character will steal their soul, leave no corner for the original inhabitant.

     –Jeremy Brett

    Brett was a wonderful Holmes in the BBC series (1980s-90s)


    Tip of the Hat to my friend, David Larkin, who found the quote in one of Abigail Parry’s poems

    Should the hat be a Deerslayer?

    We see it in movies, but it doesn’t appear in Conan Doyle’s books .

  • Occasional Quotes: Charles Manson’s biggest flaw

    By Charles Lipson
    Tuesday, June 6, 2017 0 Humor, Occasional Quotes No tags Permalink

    Norm Macdonald thinks he’s found it.

    With Manson, his biggest flaw was probably his blood lust for slaughtering people.

    –Norm Macdonald

  • Occasional Quotes: Introducing Stan and Ollie to a large audience

    By Charles Lipson
    Monday, June 5, 2017 0 Humor, Occasional Quotes Laurel and Hardy Permalink

    Notes from an early TV show, Face The Music, have recently been discovered and include an appearance by the great Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

    According to the notes, Ollie informs Stan that the television program has an audience of six million and that host Henry Hall is “going to introduce us to them”.

    Stan replies

    That’s going to take a long time, isn’t it?

     

    Hat tip to Shlomo Dror for this wonderful quote.

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