When I look back on what I did for the Left, I'm in a small way quite proud of some of it - I only wish I'd done more.
Interpretation
This quote reflects a sense of pride in past actions while also expressing a desire for greater achievement.
In this quote, Christopher Hitchens conveys a complex mix of feelings regarding his contributions to the Left. He acknowledges a sense of pride for what he has accomplished, recognizing the impact of his efforts, but simultaneously feels a lingering regret for not having done enough. This duality highlights the often challenging balance between satisfaction and ambition in one's pursuits, particularly in the realm of social and political activism.
In practice
In a speech about social responsibility, you might quote Hitchens to remind others of the importance of striving for greater impact.
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 β because itβs had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But youβve 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.
Modern Darwinism makes it abundantly clear that many less ruthless traits, some not always admired by robber barons and Fuhrers - altruism, general intelligence, compassion - may be the key to survival.
I believe that there is a greater power in the world than the evil power of military force, of nuclear bombs -- there is the power of good, of morality, of humanitarianism.
The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.
I'm not afraid of facts, I welcome facts but a congeries of facts is not equivalent to an idea. This is the essential fallacy of the so-called "scientific" mind. People who mistake facts for ideas are incomplete thinkers; they are gossips.
Deep down we've never been who we think we once were, and we only remember what never happened.
No future without forgiveness.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.