A Few Random Passages
I enjoy works that impart broader truths in the context of a narrower subject. A great example from Kingsley Amis' Everyday Drinking:
Never despise a drink because it is easy to make and/or uses commercial mixes. Unquestioning devotion to authenticity is, in any department of life, a mark of the naïve–or worse.
Amen to that. Obsession with the authentic is like an obsession to be humble. It slashes itself off at the knees.
Aye, the ankles.
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One of the most-humorous phrases from Michael Lewis' Boomerang. I don't even remember the context, but the reference cracks me up every time I think of it: "The fiercely scatological Martin Luther."
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Here's a passage from Mencken about George Washington. I don't know if it's true, but HLM was an honest writer: "He drank whisky whenever he felt chilly, and kept a jug of it handy. He knew far more profanity than Scripture, and used and enjoyed it more. He had no belief in the infallible wisdom of the common man."
