Where a reputation for intolerance is more feared than a reputation for vice itself, all manner of evil may be expected to flourish.
Theodore DalrympleThe loss of the religious understanding of the human conditionโthat Man is a fallen creature for whom virtue is necessary but never fully attainableโis a loss, not a gain, in true sophistication. The secular substituteโthe belief in the perfection of life on earth by the endless extension of a choice of pleasuresโis not merely callow by comparison but much less realistic in its understanding of human nature.
Theodore DalrympleA curious reversal in the locus of moral concern has taken place: people feel responsible for everything except for what they do.
Theodore DalrympleThe aim of untold millions is to be free to do exactly as they choose and for someone else to pay when things go wrong.
Theodore Dalrymple