What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Christopher HitchensRead
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.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the complex nature of victimhood and historical injustice.
Christopher Hitchens discusses Edward Said's perspective on the Palestinian plight, illustrating how the Palestinians, who have suffered dispossession and violence, are seen as 'the victims of the victims.' This statement highlights the tragic irony of their situation, suggesting a depth of humility in acknowledging the suffering experienced by both Palestinians and Jews in their historical conflict.
In practice
In a discussion on social justice, one might quote this to emphasize the complexity of victimhood.
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.
I boldly assert, in fact I think I know, that a lot of friendships and connections absolutely depend upon a sort of shared language, or slang. Not necessarily designed to exclude others, this can establish a certain comity and, even after a long absence, re-establish it in a second.
To be a mass tourist, for me,...is, in lines and gridlock and transaction after transaction, to confront a dimension of yourself that is as inescapable as it is painful: As a tourist, you become economically significant but existentially loathsome, an insect on a dead thing.
A man's real possession is his memory. In nothing else is he rich, in nothing else is he poor.
When we meet a person truly in need, do we see the face of God?
That which costs little is less valued.
I'm quite disappointed that I'm still the last man on the moon.
To kill a man will be considered as disgusting [in the twentieth century] as we in this day consider it disgusting to eat one.
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