Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Philosophe malgré lui




  Have you noticed, how
  the genius of our day
  has already made Dr
  Johnson seem ridicul-
  ous, for spanking? I'd
  like to subscribe to 
  a flaw, equally silly
  in its way, in celeb-
  ration of a guy of whom 
  Geoffrey Wheatcroft has
  observed, He is read by
  people who read every-
  thing, and by people
  who read no one else.









But this is not why,
rmbl is glad. It's be-
cause he is ditzily
harmless when he is
wrong, and arrestingly
unforgettable when not.
He has what it takes
to be trusted by keen
and vital skeptics.
He has the imprimatur
of Orwell, and Evelyn
Waugh. But what need?
His soul is steeped in
playing fair; and this
will always rally a row.
It isn't merely, dourly,
that all may play. It's,
rather visionarily, that
we will.





        Anyone who knows the public schools,
        their iron-bound conservatism, and,
        as a whole, intense respect for or-
        der and authority, will appreciate 
        [this], even though he may not ap-
        prove of it. Leaders of men are rare.
        Leaders of boys are almost unknown.

































P.G. Wodehouse
Mike at Wrykyn
1909
The Overlook Press, 2011©









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