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.
Rush, that most exciting perversion of life, the necessity of accomplishing something in less time than should be truly allowed for its doing.
Perception is a mirror not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn! Look to this Day! For it is Life, the very Life of Life. In its brief course lie all the Verities and Realities of your Existence. The Bliss of Growth, The Glory of Action, The Splendor of Beauty; For Yesterday is but a Dream, And To-morrow is only a Vision; But To-day well lived makes Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness, And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope. Look well therefore to this Day! Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!
I'm one of those people that you have to keep your eye on or I'll wander off into the woods and forget to come back.
The question of whether one alleges the Superiority or Inferiority of any given race is irrelevant; racism has only one psychological root: the racist's sense of his own Inferiority.
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