Men of letters at work. —Jacques Barzun, W. H. Auden, and Lionel Trilling.

The condescension, the moral preening, the crude sarcasm, and, in this bizarre case, the scatological supremacy—it’s all beyond satire. These folks are infantile halfwits masquerading as intellectuals, espousing a particularly insufferable, delusional, and dangerous ideology.

“𝘑𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦, the golden rule, do as you would be done by, is all the equality that can be supported or defended by reason or common sense.” —John Adams (in a letter to Jefferson regarding Rousseau and Helvetius)

@ConanOBrien As the last truly funny winner of the Mark Twain Prize—I have it on good authority Steven Seagal is the next recipient—you should read my essay.

“Whatever the world thinks, he who hath not much meditated upon God, the human mind, the 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘮, may possibly make a thriving earthworm, but will certainly make a sorry patriot and a sorry statesman.” —George Berkeley

What is an American? Jeremy Boreing answered this question, and it’s worth a watch. piped.video/gwf_-ZG_b78?is=cSYq…

MY SHAKESPEARE PODCAST WITH MARK BAUERLEIN Recently posted by First Things Shakespeare and God piped.video/EpSHB9g8CpI?si=Uj2o… via @YouTube

"The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man." — G.K. Chesterton

The modern literary establishment rewards fashionable politics and pornographic fairy elves—then wonders why nobody wants to read anymore. Big thanks to @peterboghossian for having me on the show today.

Rubio just blew my mind‼️ The man who understood communism the most, just explained it to the least of us.

Sometimes one man changes the course of history.

Appreciated @cjscalia’s appreciation of Andre Dubus in the latest @PorticoQtrly. Dubus’ “A Father’s Story” is easily in my top 5 favorite stories.

This year I’m having my seniors read from Weaver’s Ideas Have Consequences. Can’t wait for the discussions that will ensue.

“I would maintain that modern man is a parricide. He has taken up arms against, and he has effectually slain, what former men have regarded with filial veneration. He has not been conscious of crime but has … regarded his action as a proof of virtue.” —Richard Weaver

"A little harder to compass is the danger that we can give up on life also by presuming to 'understand' it―that is by reducing it to the terms of our understanding and by treating it as predictable or mechanical. The most radical influence of reductive science has been the virtually universal adoption of the idea that the world, its creatures, and all the parts of its creatures are machines―that is, that there is no difference between creature and artifice, birth and manufacture, thought and computation."―Wendell Berry, Life is a Miracle, p. 6

“Among artists without talent Marxism will always be popular, since it enables them to blame society for the fact that nobody wants to hear what they have to say.” Clive James

Wendell Berry, rest in peace

PRESENT, n. That part of eternity dividing the domain of disappointment from the realm of hope. —Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

“Back, n. That part of your friend which it is your privilege to contemplate in your adversity.” —Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary