Gershon Lehrer

“When the Germans conquered Paris they confiscated the grand houses of the French nobility. One such grand house was that of Philippe de Rothschild, and its new occupier was an SS general, a General Halle. Rothschild spent much of the war years in England with the Free French Forces, and when he returned to Paris at the war’s end his mansion was restored to him. ‘Felix,’ said Rothschild to his old butler, who had remained in domestic service in the mansion throughout the war – ‘Felix,’ he said, ‘the house must have been very quiet during my absence. What did you do?’ ‘Oh no, sir,’ answered Felix, ‘it wasn’t quiet at all.’ ‘Not quiet?’ asked Philippe de Rothschild. ‘No sir,’ said Felix respectfully. ‘The SS general hosted receptions every night.’ ‘Every night?’ asked Rothschild, baffled. ‘But who came?’ ‘The same people who used to come to your receptions before you fled, sir,’ answered Felix. ‘The very same people.”
― Yehuda Avner, The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership

“In America we build prisons based on third-grade test scores. So, if the test scores in the area are bad we know we need more prisons.”
― Tuvia Tenenbom, The Lies They Tell

“Dagan had no love for the media. “I’ve reached the conclusion that it is an insatiable monster,” he would tell me later, “so there’s no point in maintaining a relationship with it.”
― Ronen Bergman, Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations

“So you get fancily dressed and sometimes professionally made up. A driver in a town car picks you up, which makes you feel weird and apologetic. An upbeat public relations person you don’t know leads you onto a red carpet where you’re shouted at to “look here!” and “here” at a hundred strangers with flashbulbs for faces. And then, after those brief moments of manufactured glamour, you find yourself in a regular old creaky movie theater seat, sipping Diet Coke from a sweaty plastic cup and salting your fingers with warm popcorn. Lights dim. Mandated enthusiasm begins.”
― Michelle McNamara, I'll Be Gone in the Dark