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“For among mortal powers, only imagination can bring back the dead.”
― An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943
― An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943
“We are after all still debating the events of 1917. To write history takes time.”
― On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
― On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
“The virtue argument, by contrast, rests on a judgement that greed is a vice that the state should discourage. But who is to judge what is virtue and what is vice? Don't citizens of pluralist societies disagree about such things? And isn't it dangerous to impose judgements about virtue through law?”
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“We did not agree in all things,… but we did in some, and those we pulled at together. That was my first lesson in real politics… if you are cast on a desert island with only a screwdriver, a hatchet, and a chisel to make a boat with, why, go make the best one you can. It would be better if you had a saw, but you haven’t. So with men.”
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“Systemic study of national differences requires a certain generosity as well as tough-mindedness. The study of comparative religions has flourished only when men are secure enough in their own convictions to be unusually generous. They might be Jesuits or Arabic savants or unbelievers, but they could not be zealots. The study of comparative cultures too cannot flourish when men are so defensive about their own way of life that it appears to them to be by definition the sole solution in the world. Such men will never know the added love of their own culture which comes from a knowledge of other ways of life. They cut themselves off from a pleasant and enriching experience.”
― THE CHRYSANTHEMUM AND THE SWORD: PATTERNS OF JAPANESE CULTURE
― THE CHRYSANTHEMUM AND THE SWORD: PATTERNS OF JAPANESE CULTURE
Preston’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Preston’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
35 books
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10 friends
49 books
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2 friends
66 books
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29 friends
127 books
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5 friends
109 books
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11 friends
384 books
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11 friends
810 books
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24 friends
607 books
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29 friends
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