Cease your blasphemy

The death of his father was announced to one of the monks: ‘Cease your blasphemy,’ said he to the person that told him; ‘my father is immortal.’

Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History IV.23.51

When he arrived at Cambridge University he took 2,000 bottles of port with him

The prize for the rowdiest port drinker goes to a Shropshire squire called John Mytton who drank between four and six bottles of port a day. he was thought to have been permanently drunk for most of his adult life. He once set fire to his nightshirt in order to cure hiccups. When he arrived at Cambridge University he took 2,000 bottles of port with him. He left without any port or a degree. Briefly MP for Shrewsbury, he was more famous for his drunken exploits. Mytton's biographer, Charles James Apperley, wrote: "He once rode this bear into his drawing-room, in full hunting costume, The bear carried him very quietly for a time; but on being pricked by the spur he bit his rider through the calf of his leg." Mytton died aged 37, his enormous inheritance nearly spent (on port).

H. Jeffreys, Empire of Booze (2016), 44

Place a ladder, Acesius, and climb alone into heaven

When, therefore, the emperor further asked him, ‘For what reason then do you separate yourself from communion with the rest of the Church?’ he related what had taken place during the persecution under Decius; and referred to the rigidness of that austere canon which declares, that it is not right persons who after baptism have committed a sin, which the sacred Scriptures denominate ‘a sin unto death’ to be considered worthy of participation in the sacraments: that they should indeed be exhorted to repentance, but were not to expect remission from the priest, but from God, who is able and has authority to forgive sins. When Acesius had thus spoken, the emperor said to him, ‘Place a ladder, Acesius, and climb alone into heaven.'

Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History I.10

I’m not so selfish as to believe that my relative happiness, including, but not limited to, twenty-four-hour access to chili burgers, Blu-ray, and Aeron office chairs is worth generations of suffering

However, I’m not so selfish as to believe that my relative happiness, including, but not limited to, twenty-four-hour access to chili burgers, Blu-ray, and Aeron office chairs is worth generations of suffering. I seriously doubt that some slave ship ancestor, in those idle moments between being raped and beaten, was standing knee-deep in their own feces rationalizing that, in the end, the generations of murder, unbearable pain and suffering, mental anguish, and rampant disease will all be worth it because someday my great-great-great-great-grandson will have Wi-Fi, no matter how slow and intermittent the signal is.

P. Beatty, The Sellout (2015), 219

Walking is akin to begging in the streets

L.A. is about space, and here one’s self-worth comes from how one chooses to navigate that space. Walking is akin to begging in the streets. Taxicabs are for foreigners and prostitutes. Bicycles, skateboards, and Rollerblades are for health nuts and kids, people with nowhere to go. And all cars, from the luxury import to the classified-ad jalopy, are status symbols, because no matter how shoddy the upholstery, how bouncy the ride, how fucked-up the paint job, the car, any car, is better than riding the bus.

P. Beatty, The Sellout (2015), 117 

I think it comes from the innumeracy of our journalistic and intellectual culture

Why the gloom [about the modern world]? Partly it's the result of market forces in the punditry business, which favours the Cassandras over the Pollyannas. Partly it arises from human temperament: as David Hume observed: 'The humour of blaming the present, and admiring the past, is strongly rooted in human nature, and has an influence even on persons endowed with the profoundest judgement and most extensive learning.' But mainly, I think it comes from the innumeracy of our journalistic and intellectual culture.

S. Pinker, The better angels of our nature (2011), 356

Democracy came too early to America

The historian Peter Spierenburg has provocatively suggested that 'democracy came too early' to America. In Europe, first the state disarmed the people and claimed a monopoly on violence, then the people took over the apparatus of the state, in America, the people took over the state before it had forced them to lay down their arms.

S. Pinker, The better angels of our nature (2011), 118

Elsewhere, in support of this thesis (which I suspect is true) Pinker highlights the differential rates of violent crime by regions of the US, where the North East looks a lot like Europe and the West and South, less so.

With the battle-ax, sir, with the battle-ax!

The journalist Steven Sailer recounts a exchange from early-20th-century England: 'A hereditary member of the British House of Lords complained that Prime Minister Lloyd George had created new Lords solely because they were self-made millionaire who had only recently acquired large acreages. When asked, "How dd your ancestor become a Lord?" he replied sternly, "With the battle-ax, sir, with the battle-ax!"

S. Pinker, The better angels of our nature (2011), 99

I note, perhaps hearteningly, that this is entirely, unsupported by proper references, as Sailer acknowledges here.

A few cavities, the odd abscess, and a couple if inches of height were a small price to pay for a fivefold better chance of not getting speared.

[C]ompared to hunter-gatherers, the first city dwellers were anemic, infected, tooth-decayed, and almost two and a half inches shorter. Some biblical scholars believe the story of the fall from the Garden of Eden was a cultural memory of the transition from foraging to agriculture: 'In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.'

So why did our foraging ancestors leave Eden? For many it was never an explicit choice: they had multiplied themselves into a Malthusian trap in which the fat of the land could no longer support them, and they had to grow their food themselves. The states emerged only later, and the foragers who lived at their frontiers could either be absorbed into them or hold out in their own way of life. For those who had the choice, Eden may have been just too dangerous. A few cavities, the odd abscess, and a couple if inches of height were a small price to pay for a fivefold better chance of not getting speared.

S. Pinker, The better angels of our nature (2011), 68-9

Of the ninety-one detained, all but nine were shot

Of the 101 members of the supreme military leadership, all but ten were arrested; of the ninety-one detained, all but nine were shot. These included three of the five marshals of the Soviet Union and two of its admirals, as well as the entire senior air force personnel, every head of of every military district, and almost every military commander. The Red Army was brought to its knees.

P. Frankopan,, The Silk Roads (2015), 362

In 1500, there were around 500 political units in Europe; in 1900, there were twenty-five

The centuries that followed the emergence of Europe as a global power were accompanied by relentless consolidation and covetousness. In 1500, there were around 500 political units in Europe; in 1900, there were twenty-five.

P. Frankopan, The Silk Roads (2015), 260

How useful it is for leaders who have a view to posterity to patronise historians who write sympathetically of their age of empire

Blanket images of the mongols as barbaric destroyers are wide of the mark, and represent the misleading legacies of the histories written later which emphasised ruin and devastation above all else. This slanted view of the past provides a notable lesson in how useful it is for leaders who have a view to posterity to patronise historians who write sympathetically of their age of empire - something the Mongols conspicuously failed to do.

P. Frankopan, The Silk Roads (2015), 161

Even today regular greetings reference human trafficking

So widespread was slavery in the Mediterranean and the Arabic world than even today regular greetings reference human trafficking. All over Italy, when they meet, people say to each other, 'schiavo', from a Venetian dialect. 'Ciao', as it is more commonly spelt, does not mean 'hello'; it means 'I am your slave'

P. Frankopan, The Silk Roads (2015), 122

Around the middle of the seventh century, the future seemed easy to read. Christianity was on the march across Asia.

Around the middle of the seventh century, the future seemed easy to read. Christianity was on the march across Asia, making inroads at the expense of Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Buddhism. Religions have always played off against each other in this region and learnt that they had to compete for attention. The most competitive and successful, however, turned out to be a religion born in the little town of Bethlehem. Given the progress that had been made over the centuries that followed the crucifixion of Jesus at the hands of Pontius Pilate, it should only have been a matter of time before the tentacles of Christianity reached the Pacific, linking the great ocean with the Atlantic in the west.

P. Frankopan,, The Silk Roads (2015), 62

A sign of how Christians improved standards in Persia and elsewhere in the east

This was to be welcomed, noted another writer [Eusebius], as a sign of how Christians improved standards in Persia and elsewhere in the east; 'Persians who have become his disciples no longer marry their mothers,' while those on the steppes no longer 'feed on human flesh, because of Christ's word which has come to them'. Such developments ought to be warmly welcomed, he wrote.

P. Frankopan, The Silk Roads (2015), 39

No ball bearings, no war

It's terrible to say," Speer said pensively, "but it's better that they're concentrating on the cities." - "What do you mean, Herr Reichsminister?" - "During the summer, when they attacked the Ruhr, I was terrified. In August, they attacked Schweinfurt, where our entire production of ball bearings is concentrated. Then again in October. Our production fell by sixty-seven percent. You may not realise it, Sturmbannfurher, but no ball bearings, no war. If they concentrate on Schweinfurt, we capitulate in two months, three at the most. Here" - he waved his hand at the fires - "they're killing people, wasting all their resources on our cultural monuments." He gave a dry, harsh laugh: "We were going to rebuild everything anyway. Ha!"

J. Littell, The Kindly Ones (2006) tr. C. Mundell, 714

Necessity, as the Greeks knew already, is not only a blind goddess, but a cruel one too.

There was a lot of talk,after the war, in trying to explain what had happened, about inhumanity. But I am sorry, there is no such thing as inhumanity. There is only humanity and more humanity: and that Doll is a good example [a character who was instructed to shoot German wounded because it was too much effort to bring them home] What else was he, Doll, but a good family man who wanted to feed his children, and who obeyed his government, even though in his innermost being he didn't agree? If he has been born in France or America, he'd have been called a pillar of society and a patriot; but he was born in Germany and so he is a criminal. Necessity, as the Greeks knew already, is not only a blind goddess, but a cruel one too.

J. Littell, The Kindly Ones (2006) tr. C. Mundell, 589

We lost land, cities, men; all that can be replaced. But the Party didn't collapse

"We'll fight  to the last man." - "No doubt, but you'll perish all the same. And Stalingrad will remain as the symbol of your defeat. Wrongly, too. In my opinion, you already lost the war last year, when we stopped you in front of Moscow. We lost land, cities, men; all that can be replaced. But the Party didn't collapse, and that was your only hope,

J. Littell, The Kindly Ones (2006) tr. C. Mundell, 396

The custom of drinking a little glass of rich wine with a sweet dish or fruit seems to me a civilized one

The custom of drinking a little glass of rich wine with a sweet dish or fruit seems to me a civilized one, and especially welcome to those who do not or cannot swig brandy or port after a meal. The great dessert wines of Bordeaux and the Rhine are rather beyond the reach or ordinary mortals and are in any case wines that demand a certain ceremony. Your meal has to work up to them. The wine of Beaumes, although so rare, seems somehow more within the scope of the simplest or even of an improvised meal.

E. David, 'Golden Delicious [The Spectator, 10 January 1964]' An omelette and a glass of wine (1984), 84

Large tracts of town property [are] more than Norman blood

Ancestry has never counted for much in England. The English lord knows himself to be such a very genuine article that, when looking for a wife, he can rise above such baubles as sieze quartiers. Kind hearts, in his view, are more than coronets, and large tracts of town property more than Norman blood. He marries for love, and is rather inclined to love were the money is; he rarely marries in order to improve his coat of arms.

N. Mitford, 'The English aristocracy', ed. N. Mitford, Noblesse Oblige (1956), 45

They were refugees. We know them as "the peril from the East."

They were refugees. We know them as "the peril from the East." Fear of pogroms has welded them together like a landslip of unhappiness and grime that, slowly gathering volume, has come rolling across Germany from the East. A few clumps of them have come to rest for the time being in the East End of Berlin. A small minority of them are young and healthy, like Geza Furst, the born cabin boy. Mostly they are old and frail, if not broken.

J. Roth, 'Refugees from the East (1920)', tr. M. Hofmann, What I saw: reports from Berlin 1920-33 (2006), 37

President and sole member, he said, of some seventeen undergraduate social and literary societies

[Thomas] Earp had set himself the task of keeping the Oxford tradition alive through the dead years - as president and sole member, he said, of some seventeen undergraduate social and literary societies. In 1919, still in residence, he handed over the minute-books to the returning university. Most of the societies were then re-formed.

R. Graves, Goodbye to all that (1929), 203-4

Cricket ... wasted the most time in the best part of the year

[Nevill] shared my dislike of school traditions, and decided compulsory games were the worst. Of these we considered cricket the most objectionable, because it wasted the most time in the best part of the year. Nevill suggested a campaign in favour of lawn-tennis. We were not seriously devoted to tennis, but found it our handiest weapon against cricket - the game, we wrote, in which the selfishness of the few did not excuse the boredom of the many.

R. Graves, Goodbye to all that (1929), 51

They had the difficult and delicate task of persuading a large industrial constituency that an industrial representative would not further industrial interests

The streets were lively with the red and the blue colours of politics. The Liberal member for the Parliamentary borough of Hanbridge, which included Bursley, had died very suddenly, and the seat was being disputed by the previously defeated Conservative candidate and a new Labour candidate officially adopted by the Liberal party. The Tories had sworn not to be beaten again in the defence of the integrity of the Empire. And though they had the difficult and delicate task of persuading a large industrial constituency that an industrial representative would not further industrial interests, and that they alone were actuated by unselfish love for the people, yet they had made enormous progress in a very brief period, and publicans were jubilant and bars sloppy.

A. Bennett, Clayhanger (1910), 394

Nobody had contrived to make England see that her very existence would not be threatened if museums were opened on Sunday

[During a seven year period in the 1870s] the world had been whizzing ceaselessly from one miracle into another. Board schools had been opened in Bursley, wondrous affairs, with ventilation; indeed ventilation had been discovered. A Jew had been made Master of the Rolls: a spectacle at which England shivered, and then, perceiving no sign of disaster, shrugged its shoulders. Irish members had taught the House of Commons how to talk for twenty-four hours without a pause. The wages of the agricultural labourer had sprung into the air and leaped over the twelve shilling bar into regions of opulence.  ... Every effort had been made to explain by persuasion and by force to the working man that trade unions were inimical to his true welfare, and none had succeeded, so stupid was he. ... Bishops, archbishops, and dissenting ministers had met at Lambeth to inspect the progress of irreligious thought, with intent to arrest it. 

...

But, in spite of numerous attempts, nobody had contrived to make England see that her very existence would not be threatened if museums were opened on Sunday, or that Nonconformists might be buried according to their own rites without endangering the constitution.

A. Bennett, Clayhanger (1910),156-7

God's bureaucrat, who dressed soberly in black, read everything, ruled absolutely, thought suspiciously and acted cautiously

Philip was suspicious of the whole idea of Holy Leagues, and it was not in his nature to act spontaneously. God's bureaucrat, who dressed soberly in black, read everything, ruled absolutely, thought suspiciously and acted cautiously, was not a man to make up his mind quickly - nor to reveal his intentions prematurely

R. Crowley, Empires of the sea: the final battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 (2008), 217

The planners and leaders of this conflict were astonishingly old by the standards of the time

The planners and leaders of this conflict were astonishingly old by the standards of the time. The contest for Malta brought together the collective experience of an enduring generation of potentates, admirals and generals, literally hundreds of man-years of voyages, raids and wars. Suleiman, La Valette, Don Garcia and Mustapha Pasha were all in their seventies . Turgut, preparing to sail from Tripoli, was reckoned to be eighty. Their lives stretched back to the fifteenth century. It was as if all the experience and all the war in the trackless sea had shrink to a single spot.

R. Crowley, Empires of the sea: the final battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 (2008), 114-5

Who would dream of building such high rooms with such spectacular volumes for a cup or a dish or a bowl

When I was a boy, I would walk up the stairs and then more stairs [at the V&A]. You had to be resourceful to navigate your way through Medieval Metalwork, and not get lost in Enamels. You reached the top. There were very few places you could see out or even sense the museum below you, the spaces seemed completely self-contained, one enfilade gallery after another after another. In each direction there were armies of vitrines holding pots. Who would dream of building such high rooms with such spectacular volumes for a cup or a dish or a bowl.

There were very few visitors. Sometimes the warders were asleep.

E. de Waal, The white road (2015), 329

You are lucky to get two minutes of the attention of a margrave who lives for killing stags or boar in inventive ways

If you are interested in in optics or mineralogy or funding a dictionary of philosophy, you are lucky to get two minutes of the attention of a margrave who lives for killing stags or boar in inventive ways. You are n some endless corridor of some windy schloss, and there is the clatter of men, scratching themselves, impatient for the off with their noise and weapons and rolling obscenities, and you are trying to tell His Serene Highness that you need money - a great deal of money - for a wind-furnace to test the melting point of iron ore.

E. de Waal, The white road (2015), 139

It took a French priest in the provinces to send the Emperor of China some wine

Through Lang, on the second day of the third month of 1709, Pere d'Entrecolles sent the Kangxi Emperor sixty-six bottles of wine 'and other imported Western rarities'. The Emperor was very pleased and told Lang that in future all offerings should be recorded in detail. This was noted in hs vermillion endorsements.

The Emperor got a lot of presents, delicate  scientific instruments and grand artefacts, inlaid and gilded and resplendent. It took a French priest in the provinces to send the Emperor of China some wine.

E. de Waal, The white road (2015), 103-4

I'm not confident about Jesuits and untidiness

My photocopy of his [Pere d'Entrecolles] letters now resembles a palimpsest. I've underlined almost everything, and written notes slant-ways on his comments, in taxis and on my knee in the street and leaning against trees. There are stains. Possibly noodles. I hope he'd understand, but I'm not confident about Jesuits and untidiness.

E. de Waal, The White road (2015), 52