In dealing with Syria's dictator...only force counts. No cease-fire was attainable in Lebanon until the 16-inch guns of the battleship New Jersey started shelling Syria's proxies; suddenly, sweet reason prevailed in Damascus.

Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight.

This is what it's all about. From what I could see, you could get a bunch of people together, whip up the press and have some impact.

The trick is to start early in our careers the stress-relieving avocation that we will need later as a mind-exercising final vocation. We can quit a job, but we quit fresh involvement at our mental peril.

English is a stretch language; one size fits all.

On the analogy of 'Dictionary Johnson,' we call Fred R. Shapiro, editor of the just-published Yale Book of Quotations (well worth the $50 price), 'Quotationeer Shapiro.' Shapiro does original research, earning his 1,067-page volume a place on the quotation shelf next to Bartlett's and Oxford's.

Different regions may require different strategies, as President Bush has noted, but not different basic principles. It's either collective security or selective security.