Argalia had never before faced a Medici duke in his pomp

Argalia had never before faced a Medici duke in his pomp. However, when Giuliano de' Medici rode into his encampment that night, with a hood over his head for secrecy, Argalia understood at once that the new ruler of Florence was a weakling, and so was that young nephew of his, riding by his side. Pope Leo was known to be a man of power, a Medici of the old school, inheritor of the authority of Lorenzo the Magnificent. How concerned he must be to have entrusted Florence to the care of these second-raters.

S. Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence (2008), 332-3

Hamida Bado was not attracted to the concept of doubt

Hamida Bado, a fierce, commanding woman, was not attracted to the concept of doubt. It was her opinion that she knew what was what, had been brought up to know it, and it was her duty to convey that information to everyone as clearly as possible.

S. Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence (2008), 131

A remarkable rate that would make even Bernie Madoff blush

There is fairly unambiguous evidence, instead, that insiders make above average returns. One disturbing example is that members of Congress, who often gain access to inside information about a company while they are lobbied and who have some ability to influence the fate of companies through legislation, return a profit on their investments that beats market averages by 5 to 10 percent per year, a remarkable rate that would make even Bernie Madoff blush. 

N. Silver, The Signal and the Noise (2012), 342

On the other hand there was culture

On the other hand there was culture. New Orleans does many things well, but there are two things it proudly refuses to do. New Orleans does not move quickly, and New Orleans does not place much faith in authority. If it did those things, New Orleans would not really be New Orleans  It would also have been much better prepared to deal with Katrina, since those are the exact two things you need to do when a hurricane threatens to strike.

N. Silver, The Signal and the Noise (2012), 109

The importance of the industrial revolution is hard to overstate

The importance of the industrial revolution is hard to overstate. Throughout essentially all of human history, economic growth had proceeded at a rate of 0.1% a year, enough to allow for a very gradual increase in population, but not any growth of per capita living standards. And then, suddenly there was progress where there had been none.

N. Silver, The Signal and the Noise (2012), 6

Reduce England to a cold and unimportant little island where we should all have to work very hard and live mainly on herrings and potatoes

Under the capitalist system, in order that England may live in comparative comfort, a hundred million Indians must live on the verge of starvation--an evil state of affairs, but you acquiesce in it every time you step into a taxi or eat a plate of strawberries and cream. The alternative is to throw the Empire overboard and reduce England to a cold and unimportant little island where we should all have to work very hard and live mainly on herrings and potatoes. That is the very last thing that any left-winger wants. Yet the left-winger continues to feel that he has no moral responsibility for imperialism. He is perfectly ready to accept the products of Empire and to save his soul by sneering at the people who hold the Empire together

G. Orwell, The road to Wigan pier (1937), 148

NB. The thrust of this isn't true, like so much of Part II of the book, but it's a great line.

In almost any revolt the leaders would tend to be people who could pronounce their aitches

In Lissagaray's History of the Commune there is an interesting passage describing the shootings that took place after the Commune had been suppressed. The authorities were shooting the ringleaders, and as they did not know who the ringleaders were, they were picking them out on the principle that those of better class would be the ringleaders. An officer walked down a line of prisoners, picking out likely-looking types. One man was shot because he was wearing a watch, another because he 'had an intelligent face'. I should not like to be shot for having an intelligent face, but I do agree that in almost any revolt the leaders would tend to be people who could pronounce their aitches.

G. Orwell, The road to Wigan pier (1937), 45