From Theodore Dalrymple:
“There is often more heroism in a life of quiet decency than in one of flamboyant deeds; but our minds are like those of bower birds, attracted to the bright, shiny, meretricious, and sensational.”
I wish I could write like that. The thought isn’t even central to Dalrymple’s essay; it just sits there, like a beautiful flower at the side of a busy interstate.
The amazing thing is, he doesn’t just write like that, Dr. Daniels speaks like that, as well. He joined Jordan Peterson on his podcast some time back and showed himself to be extremely well-spoken in the manner that well-educated Brits seem to do so effortlessly.
Agreed on two counts – I’ve read other essays by Dalrymple and find his use of the language a masterful delight, and the Mumbai monstrosity he wrote about in the link is a hemorrhoid on the asshole of architecture. It looks like a pile of scrap junk spilled from an extraterrestrial spacecraft passing through.