The philosophy of Karl Marx ... is really an extreme version of High Victorian liberalism

The philosophy of Karl Marx ... is really an extreme version of High Victorian liberalism: the fact of the worldwide British Empire created the fantasy of the worldwide Socialist Revolution.

J. Hawes, cited in J. Law. 'as old as the hills', SF 84 (2024), 40

The indispensable key to English history is the Jurassic divide

For Hawes, the indispensable key to English history is the Jurassic divide - a boundary line running north-north-east from the Exe estuary to the mouth of the Humber. On one side are the relatively young sedimentary rocks of lowland England, on the other the old rocks of the West Country moors, Wales and the Marches, the Pennines and Scotland. Hawes contends that this physical divide underlies virtually every other divide in English history - social, economic, political or cultural. 

J. Law. 'as old as the hills', SF 84 (2024), 37

Yet again, this was a case of large scale hybrid warfare: and Napoleon was not particularly good at it

Yet – as the degree to which the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars were fought out on a transcontinental scale makes clear – viewed in their entirety, these conflicts did not in fact represent a wholly new form of warfare. Rather they marked a continuation, on a notably bigger scale, of that combined fighting on land and sea which had been escalating in expense since the early 1700s. Yet again, this was a case of large scale hybrid warfare: and Napoleon was not particularly good at it. 

L. Colley, The gun, the ship and the pen (2021), 164

The bit Napoleon is bad at, is maritime warfare of course.

That was the worst of these Americans! Always getting divorced and causing unpleasantness

She choked. His lordship, a young man with a shrinking horror of the deeper emotions, whether exhibited in woman or man, writhed silently. That was the worst of these Americans! Always getting divorced and causing unpleasantness. How was a fellow to know?

P. G. Wodehouse, The little nugget (1913), 10

Greece is part of Western civilization, for the very simple reason that over the last two hundred years Greeks have determined that it should be.

Samuel Huntington, in his influential book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order, published in 1996, noted the paradox: ‘Greece is not part of Western civilization, but it was the home of Classical civilization which was an important source of Western civilization.’ In fact, Greece is part of Western civilization, for the very simple reason that over the last two hundred years Greeks have determined that it should be. 

R. Beaton, Greece (2019), 11

The timing, manner and mood of a private assault on a new town are a serious matter.

The timing, manner and mood of a private assault on a new town are a serious matter. If the town should be one of the world's wonders, it is crucial. To arrive at Constantinople by air, for instance, and reach the city by the airport bus is to be swallowed b the saddest and most squalid of Balkan slums. It must be attacked from the sea and the haggish but indestructible splendour, crckling with all the atmospherics of its long history, allowed to loo slowly across the shining Propontis.

P.L. Fermor, Mani (1958), 301

The Christian Church was the last great creative achievement of classical Greek culture

The evolution of Christianity into a logical system which could weather the shocks of millennia, was a Greek thing. The Christian Church was the last great creative achievement of classical Greek culture. 

P.L. Fermor, Mani (1958), 214