Word: decentering
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...under pressure known to change his story, his message, his demeanor and his clothes, has resisted the weight of opinion in favor of getting it over rather than getting it correct. This has meant that Lieberman, considered a happy St. Bernard in 12 years in the Senate--"as moral, decent and honorable a man as I've known there," said Senator John McCain last Friday--has seen his image morph overnight into a Rottweiler. Conventional wisdom holds that a position can't be principle if it is also self-serving. As Lieberman waited to go on Larry King Live recently...
...doer. So he will fashion tools, clothing, shelter; find food, draw cave paintings, make fire. He will replicate the ascent of man, all by his lonesome. He'll be Robinson Crusoe without Friday, Gilligan without the crew, Survivor without all those annoying other survivors. Hanks has often played a decent man isolated - in his mind ("Forrest Gump"), his disease ("Philadelphia"), his bereavement ("Sleepless in Seattle") or outer space ("Apollo 13"). As Chuck, he finds his best, most resourceful self in isolation. So does William Broyles Jr.'s script; the 80 mins. it spends on the atoll alone with Hanks make...
While most people can imagine affording a vacation in Tuscany, how many can manage to settle there? Certainly only the superrich can afford a big farmhouse with breathtaking views or a medieval castle with an inviting tower. Yet those with limited funds may find a decent apartment in a small town, such as Montalcino, for $300 a month...
Once one is settled in an apartment or house, life is quite manageable for foreigners, especially if they learn some Italian. Basic medical care is accessible and decent. A resident's visa is easy to obtain, although a visitor's visa may be fine for brief stays. Foreigners can e-mail those back home, as well as open a bank account for depositing U.S. checks...
...mention this history in order to introduce my real subject - the infinitely civilized, decent, and human Michel de Montaigne, sometime mayor of Bordeaux and inventor of the modern essay. Montaigne, a Catholic whose mother was a Jew, lived squarely in the middle of the religious wars, yet managed to survive them handsomely and even to be a friend to Henri of Navarre and Henri of Guise, not out of duplicity but out of sheer decency...