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

Why, Kyriakos Mavromichalis of course, his brother. Who else?

 The conversation drifted inevitably to politics. Like most of the Maniots, he was a firm royalist. I pointed to the poster of M. Petro Mavromichalis and asked if he had voted for him.

'Yes,' he said, 'but I think we should change our deputy....'

...

I asked him who he would prefer to represent the constituency: it was sad to contemplate this uprooting of traditional allegiances. He looked surprised. 'Who? Why, Kyriakos Mavromichalis of course, his brother. Who else?'

P.L. Fermor, Mani (1958), 161

A Vlach is a plain-dweller

A Vlach is a plain-dweller, a descendant of of rayahs, a vile bourgeois, and Maniots who leave the peninsula to live like them are said, with accents of scorn, to have 'gone Vlach'.

P.L. Fermor, Mani (1958), 70

I couldn’t say whether with good intentions or otherwise, the band had struck up the Spanish Republican anthem

The cost of restoring the cathedral bell towers, destroyed by the earthquake of 1950, had been met by General Franco’s government, and as a gesture of gratitude the band was ordered to play the Spanish national anthem. As the first chords sounded, the bishop’s red headdress locked itself into position as he moved his arms about like a puppet. “Stop, stop, there’s been a mistake,” he whispered, while the indignant voice of a Spaniard could be heard, “Two years’ work, and they play this!” I couldn’t say whether with good intentions or otherwise, the band had struck up the Spanish Republican anthem.

E. Guevara, The motorcycle diaries (1967), tr. A. March (2003), 91

The paintings in the Pantassa at Mistra formed the last important monument of the medieval free Greek world

There is a great charm about it all; but it is the art of a civilization that has outlived its political basis, and art of wistful nostalgia for which there was not future. The paintings in the Pantassa at Mistra formed the last important monument of the medieval free Greek world. 

 S. Runciman, Lost capital of Byzantium (1980), 95-6 

The epithet fits Andronicus II better than Andronicus III, who was not very pious

All we know of him [Andrew, governor of the Peloponnese] is that he was appointed by 'the pious Emperor Andronicus' - the epithet fits Andronicus II better than Andronicus III, who was not very pious, but it was often given formally to emperors, regardless of their characters - and that he was the father of a saint, Leontius of Achaea, who was noted for his good works later in the century.

S. Runciman, Lost capital of Byzantium (1980), 48

Think of Adam and Eve like an imaginary number

The Cassington Scholar is traditionally given to  a free thinker. It's his function to challenge the faith of the Scholars. Naturally he'd say that. But think of Adam and Eve like an imaginary number, like the square root of minus one: you can never see any concrete proof it exists , but if you include it in your equations, you can calculate all manner of things that couldn't be imagined without it.

P. Pullman, Northern Lights (1995), 372-3