I bought a book the other week. Nothing unusual there. One of my regular treats early in my working life was to leave the office, head to a bookshop, buy a stack and then pop to the sushi place round the corner for an early supper and a quiet read. I have been a sufficiently […]
The Littlest Thing Read More »
Death has been on my mind recently. Not my own – that will be the last thing I do. No, it is the demise of a lady in my extended circle which I have been pondering. It was not a surprise, particularly – age and a range of conditions made it likely that it would
One way of understanding the Prime Minister, I think, is to assume he is a child playing at being Prime Minister. Like a little person solemnly sitting down at a desk and shuffling papers, much of the time, he seems to do things not because he needs to or wants to, but because he has seen others do them
A Question of Interests Read More »
“And relax. Put your feet up. Well, that was a day, wasn’t it? Anyway, you made it through and that’s not nothing. In fact, you deserve a reward. Glass of wine? Good idea. Just a cheeky one, mind. You’ve earned it.” With minor variations, this dialogue gets performed in countless heads across countless lands every
“Nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all.” Arthur Balfour (attrib.) It took, it is said, seven days for news of Abraham Lincoln’s death to reach London. This was comparatively speedy – Australia had to wait the best part of a month. By contrast, everyone with a phone or TV learned of the
Sublime Indifference Read More »
Second thoughts seem to be a feature of my life. Not, I think, due to chronic indecision or a personality prone to regret, but because that is just the way my mind seems to work. A thought bubbles up, seemingly from nowhere, and then I decide what to do with it. If it is interesting
On Second Thoughts Read More »
Schadenfreude is, we can assume, a universal human emotion. Barely had the first Iranian strikes been launched towards the U.A.E., than some social media users felt the need to point this fact out to the country’s expats. Yes, the weather may be nice, the lack of income tax attractive, but neither were worth finding oneself at
The Lines Were Already on the Page Read More »
Cook Ding was a master, butchering animals with balletic precision. So impressive was his craft that one day his employer, Lord Wen Hui, asked for an explanation. He hadn’t always had the skill, the cook said. When he started, he had seen the animal in its totality, just one big hunk of meat, so he
“You should have stayed at university and become a philosopher,” my Dad told me one day. This wasn’t quite as random as it might sound. We’d had dinner a few weeks earlier and he had told me that he had seen there was going to be a documentary about Wittgenstein on TV. Knowing that I
Sitting at the Mouth of the Cave Read More »
After so many U-turns, we can extend the Prime Minister the charity of precision. Having already committed 15 or 16, the marginal political benefit of pinning another one on him is low and we can, if history is any guide, be confident another will be on its way shortly. Thus, I don’t think we need
The Centre Isn’t Holding Read More »
Copyright © 2022 The New Conservative
Powered by The New Conservative
