"Bombing Afghanistan back into the Stone Age" was quite a favourite headline for some wobbly liberals. The slogan does all the work. But an instant's thought shows that Afghanistan is being, if anything, bombed OUT of the Stone Age.
Interpretation
The quote critiques simplistic views on warfare and progress, suggesting that conflict can lead to development rather than regression.
Christopher Hitchens' quote reflects on the often misleading narratives surrounding warfare, particularly in Afghanistan. He challenges the notion that bombing the region would revert it to a primitive state, instead arguing that such actions might actually propel it towards modernization. It calls for deeper contemplation on the effects of military interventions and highlights the complexities of cultural and technological evolution in the context of conflict.
In practice
In a debate about military intervention, this quote can serve to remind us of the complexities involved.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way — because it’s had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But you’ve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
Winter is not a season, it's an occupation.
The Devil has the broadest perspectives for God; therefore, he keeps so far away from God -- the Devil being the most ancient friend of wisdom
The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others.
It is man's unique privilege, among all other organisms. By pursuing falsehood you will arrive at the truth!
And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge.
Time has its revenges, but revenge seems so often sour. Wouldn’t we all do better not trying to understand, accepting the fact that no human being will ever understand another, not a wife with a husband, nor a parent a child? Perhaps that’s why men have invented God – a being capable of understanding.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.