I must have been one of the least surprised people on earth on September 11. I felt very braced for that. I knew something like that was going to come.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a sense of preparedness for unexpected events, suggesting a belief in the inevitability of certain tragedies.
In this quote, Christopher Hitchens reflects on his perception of the world leading up to the tragic events of September 11. He conveys a feeling of resignation and expectation, indicating that he believed such an event was not just possible but likely. This perspective invites deeper contemplation on human awareness and the nature of societal tensions, emphasizing how some individuals can anticipate calamities while others remain oblivious.
In practice
In a speech discussing the importance of crisis management, one could reference Hitchens on September 11 to highlight the need for preparedness.
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.
A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.
We don't recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors. If we actually realized this, if we were able to become aware of the fact that we are only ever looking at ourselves in the other person, that we are alone in the wilderness, we would go crazy.
There is nothing but water in the holy pools. I know, I have been swimming there. All the gods sculpted of wood or ivory can’t say a word. I know, I have been crying out to them. The Sacred Books of the East are nothing but words. I looked through their covers one day sideways. What Kabir talks of is only what he has lived through. If you have not lived through something, it is not true.
Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.
Some people speak and sing and walk and sit and sleep and silence their homesickness, for a long time, and to no avail. Some say that over time homesickness loses its specific content, that it starts to smolder and only then becomes all-consuming, because it’s no longer focused on a concrete home. I am one of the people who say that.
Authority and place demonstrate and try the tempers of men, by moving every passion and discovering every frailty.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.