“But what we are experiencing is not the knowledge explosion so often boasted of; it is a torrent of information, made possible by first reducing the known to compact form and then bulking it up again—adding water. That is why the product so often tastes like dried soup” (Jacques Barzun, The Culture We Deserve, p. …
Not A Tame Book
“Nothing is both more disturbing and more exciting than the irresistible resurgence of the Christian text, at a time and place when it is least anticipated” (Girard, Job, p. 166).
Islam and the West
“For many centuries, the world of Islam was in the forefront of human civilization and achievement . . . And then, suddenly, the relationship changed. Even before the Renaissance, Europeans were beginning to make significant progress in the civilized arts. With the advent of the New Learning, they advanced by leaps and bounds, leaving the …
The Cape and Beret Problem
“By the 1700s, moreover, ‘art’ and ‘artist’ had subtly acquired new meanings. The good or great artist was now understood to possess more than high technical competence, and he had gradually come to feel a special kind of self-regard. The graphic artists particularly demanded freedom of action; when commissioned they would no longer tolerate being …
Another Thing Science Can’t Do
“The reconstruction of the autographic text is a task outside the competence of science, and any attempt to submit the task to scientific canons will only result in increasing confusion. A process of scholarly reconstruction here makes sense only when undergirded with faith in the living God who controls the flow of all historical events. …
Provided He Goes Along
“The unanimous community considers that it can judge without proof or trial: its own bloody turmoil is seen as a divine inspiration. As we have observed, no one is excluded from that communion — not even the victim, provided he justifies the violence and is not a spoilsport” (Girard, Job, p. 139).
No Mas
As some may know, I have had a link to the Little Geneva website under the Moonbats category, and which I had labeled as “Clever Zionist Tricks.” I am now removing that link because it appears as though the website has folded. Whatever the reason, I am grateful that the number of attack web sites …
Pursuing What You Love
“This active use of time is of course for pleasure; its impulse is love. Everybody used to know this when the words amateur and dilettante were taken in their original meanings of ‘lover’ and ‘seeker of delight.’ We have turned them into terms of contempt to denote bunglers and triflers” (Jacques Barzun, The Culture We …
Unbendable
“Despite the lapses I have mentioned, Job never gives in on the question of his innocence. His lapse does not last, and to the very end he will refuse to admit to any guilt” (Girard, Job, p. 133).
Soi-Disant Postmodernism
In my various posts on the subject of postmodernism, I have in time past advanced an argument that I believe to be a real pippin. But thus far, I have not really seen anyone attempt to engage with it. This is either because the argument is beneath contempt, and it would sully the minds of …