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 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.
You'll get used to it. In the end you won't even notice it anymore," he said. "How is that possible? It will always be there, right before my eyes." "Exactly," said Mattia. "Which is precisely why you won't see it anymore.
For," I said, "a murdered man or woman dies not in God's time, but in Man's. He... or she... is cut short before he... or she... can atone for sin, and so all errors must be forgiven. When you think of it that way, all murderers are a gateway for heaven.
Everything comes to us from others. To Be is to belong to someone.
Science only answers the question, How does it work? Or at most, What's there? Science asks what and how, philosophy asks why, myth and religion ask who. Who's in charge here? Who's the author? That's what we really long to know.
You lose the world for a glance? Of course you do. That is what the world is for: to lose under the right circunstances.
The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth.
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