To describe Yak-rustling as ‘an overt act of hostility’ by a foreign power is plainly absurd

The fact that the Viceroy of India was sending telegrams about the fate of frontier livestock to the Secretary of State (and hence the Cabinet) shows the flimsiness of the justifications he was putting forward for invading Tibet. To describe Yak-rustling as ‘an overt act of hostility’ by a foreign power is plainly absurd. It shows the way Curzon was willing to use almost any excuse to obtain sanction for a further advance into Tibet, so certain was he that the Russian bear needed to be checked.

P. French, Younghusband (1992), 193

Just shake them up and tell them for God’s sake remember they are Englishmen

The world of officialdom sent him a memorandum in February outlining a proposal to withdraw representation from Chitral altogether. ‘One feels inclined to go up to these people who invent such timid counsels,’ he spluttered to Nellie, ‘and just shake them up and tell them for God’s sake remember they are Englishmen.’

P. French, Younghusband (1992), 107

One man was defined not by his rank or his manner of death, but simply with the bald words: ‘A Wykehamist’

[in Dharamsala] Streams of sunlight shot through the stained glass windows behind him, and ton to the stone tablets which remembered earlier members of the congregation; soldiers, traders and tea planters, dead from dysentery or fever . A lieutenant has been ‘mauled by a bear’. While a captain had died with his ‘faithful servant’ by his side. One man was defined not by his rank or his manner of death, but simply with the bald words: ‘A Wykehamist’

P. French, Younghusband (1992), 21

Some people hate the very name of statistics, but I find them full of beauty and interest

Some people hate the very name of statistics, but I find them full of beauty and interest. Whenever they are not brutalised, but delicately handled by the higher methods, and are warily interpreted, their power to deal with complicated phenomena is extraordinary.

Francis Galton, cited in J. Vincent, Beyond measure (2022), 253

Measurement, like speech and play, is the cornerstone of cognition

Measurement, like speech and play, is the cornerstone of cognition. It encourages us to pay attention to the boundaries of the world, to notice where the line ends up and the scales tip. It requires that we compare one portion of reality to another and describe the differences, creating a scaffolding of knowledge. … If we could not measure, then we could not observe the world around us; could not experiment and learn. Measurement allows us to record the past and by doing so uncover patterns that help predict the future

J. Vincent, Beyond measure (2022), 1

Quickly my literal faith in God unraveled. My faith in the Church as a community, however, continued

Quickly my literal faith in God unraveled. My faith in the Church as a community, however, continued. People from my grandparents' church helped us through the difficult time: they visited our house frequently to make sure we had enough food while my depressed mother spent most of her days in bed. Once she was back on her feet and began to work double shifts to support us, they often invited me to their homes for dinner, so that I wouldn't be alone for too long with sad thoughts in my head.

...

I wondered if marriage to ordinary people was what religion was like to me after my father's departure: a companionship they abided by, out of habit and loyalty, which, even after the absolute faith and passion had long gone, would continue to offer support and consolation. A constant that was satisfactory, if not thrilling. Not a bad thing at all to live by, I used to think.

M. Lee, 8 lives of a century-old trickster (2023), 162-3

He had the unmistakable look of a man about to be present at a row between two women

Mt Pett, meanwhile, had been trailing in the rear with a hunted expression on his face. He had the unmistakable look of a man about to be present at a row between two women, and only a wet cat in a strange back yard bears itself with less jauntiness than a man faced by such a prospect. A millionaire several times over, Mr Pett would have cheerfully given much of his wealth to have been elsewhere at that moment.

P.G Wodehouse, Piccadilly Jim (1918), 57