Word: poisons
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...What am I talking about? Here's a metaphor: to the Japanese, the highly-dangerous Fugu fish is a great delicacy. Handled and prepared carefully, it can be relished without concern. But the fish contains a fatal poison in its skin known as tetrodotoxin, which can kill in minutes. So it is with our relationship to the past: if we approach it thoughtfully, it can provide a kind of nourishment for our lives in the present. The great danger of history is cheap nostalgia, seducing us into loving the past simply because...
What am I talking about? Here's a metaphor: to the Japanese, the highly-dangerous Fugu fish is a great delicacy. Handled and prepared carefully, it can be relished without concern. But the fish contains a fatal poison in its skin known as tetrodotoxin, which can kill in minutes. So it is with our relationship to the past: if we approach it thoughtfully, it can provide a kind of nourishment for our lives in the present. The great danger of history is cheap nostalgia, seducing us into loving the past simply because...
...presidency feels different to us now, less a solid than a liquid, too vast for any one man to poison permanently, yet so fluid it molds to the shape of the vessel it's poured into. For much of this century, particularly from Franklin Roosevelt on, the men wore the office, borrowed its majesty to wage war or make peace. Modern Presidents cannot count on that mystique. Now the office wears the man. In the age of 24-hour news channels, it is the man we recognize and judge, which is why Reagan's power was utterly different from Carter...
...National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wishes to go on record as believing that it would be better to close the University than to permit it to become a vehicle for disseminating the poison of race and religious hatred upon which the infamous Klan depends in recruiting its membership. We trust that every effort will be made to discover those responsible for bringing this organization into Harvard and that they will be expelled when their names are known. Nationwide experience with the Klan has demonstrated that where it has not been dealt with sternly and promptly...
...South Lawn, which had convinced many moderates that Clinton still thought of himself as a victim, deserving of cheap grace. If a full acquittal this week triggers an early Mardi Gras inside the White House, the bitterness among Republicans and disgust among Democrats could become a kind of poison in the system. Clinton's outside advisers are pushing for discretion. Says one: "I hope he just gives a 30-second statement saying, 'I'm glad it's over,' and goes upstairs for a cold drink...