Nonmathematical people sometimes ask me, โYou know math, huh? Tell me something Iโve always wondered, What is infinity divided by infinity?โ I can only reply, โThe words you just uttered do not make sense. That was not a mathematical sentence. You spoke of โinfinityโ as if it were a number. Itโs not. You may as well ask, 'What is truth divided by beauty?โ I have no clue. I only know how to divide numbers. โInfinity,โ โtruth,โ โbeautyโโthose are not numbers.
John DerbyshireEducation is a vast sea of lies, waste, corruption, crackpot theorizing, and careerist log-rolling.
John DerbyshireWhat does the Right have to show for eight years of a Republican presidency? I supported George W. Bush in 2000 because I thought he had a conservative bone in his body somewhere. I supported him in 2004 because I thought him the lesser of two evils. At this point, I wouldn't let the fool park his car in my driveway. Bruce Bartlett was right, every damn word.
John DerbyshireThe more depressed and maladjusted you are, the more likely it is that you are seeing things right, with minimal bias
John DerbyshireHe [Mencken] was an autodidact, with all the misplaced confidence and all the astonishing gaps that characterize that breed. Not many of us would venture to write a book about democracy without ever having read de Tocqueville, nor embark on a translation of Nietzsche with only a sketchy knowledge of German.
John DerbyshireThe job of conservatives is to keep the Republican Party driving on the right-hand side of the road. There are many ways we do this. We argue, we publish, we lobby, we campaign for conservative candidates. Another thing we do is, when the GOP goes off the rails on really key issues - size of government, the National Question, Wilsonian adventures - we stay home on election day.
John Derbyshire