Every now and then I will see a word as if for the first time, and suddenly appreciate that Evian is 'naive' spelled backward, or that Bosnia is an anagram of 'bonsai.'
Interpretation
The quote highlights the joy of discovering new perspectives and connections in seemingly ordinary words.
Christopher Hitchens illustrates the delightful realization that words can hold hidden meanings or associations, such as the fact that 'Evian' spelled backward is 'naive' and that 'Bosnia' is an anagram of 'bonsai.' This moment of insight encourages us to appreciate language and its intricacies, reminding us that there is often more beneath the surface of familiar things.
In practice
In a lecture on linguistics, you might use this quote to illustrate the beauty of language.
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.
Never stop paying attention to things. Never make your mind up finally. Do not hold beliefs.
Let Jesus preach to you, and and let Jesus heal you. We are all wounded. Everyone.
So when somebody asks me to make a decision about a situation, I don't offer a solution, I ask a question: What are our options? Give me the good, give me the bad, give me the pretty, give me the ugly, give me the impossible, give me the possible, give me the convenient, give me the inconvenient. Give me the options. All I want are options. And once I have all the options before me, then I comfortably and confidently make my decision.
Real wealth is ideas plus energy.
Never regret thy fall, O Icarus of the fearless flight For the greatest tragedy of them all Is never to feel the burning light.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
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