Carl Remick <carlremick at hotmail.com> wrote: >From: ravi
. There's no non-delusional way
>to positively spin these things, is there?
Nope. . . . BTW, one quote from that book (Passage to India) has always stuck in my (mind) as one of the most downbeat assessments of the human condition. It goes: "Most of life is so dull that there is nothing to be said about it, and the books and talk that would describe it as interesting are obliged to exaggerate, in the hope of justifying their own existence. Inside its cocoon of work or social obligation, the human spirit slumbers for the most part, registering the distinction between pleasure and pain, but not nearly as alert as we pretend." The life of the party was old E.M.F.!
One of my favorite lines from Forster: "If I should be asked to choose between my friend and my country, I hope I should have the courage to choose my friend."
My other favorite aphorism (from Leonard Elmore, spoken by an old guy who once was a high-roller and is now down and out): "I spent it all on booze, broads and boats, and the rest I wasted."
BobW