Anecdotal Evidence

On July 30, 1937, the NKVD issued Order No. 00447, signed by Stalin and NKVD chief Nikolai Yezhov, which mandated the round-up of “ex-kulaks...

“In time we bow / To the necessity and claim profound / Returns in memory.” The spice cupboard was a disorganized mess. Looking for tarrag...

Zbigniew Herbert begins his 1966 essay “Monsieur Montaigne’s Voyage to Italy” with these words: “When a moment comes that my body will hav...

“It’s not a showy word but a worker word, a syntactic functionary; and yet, for all its organizational aplomb, it secretly delights in nuanc...

Jules Renard writes in his journal on July 26, 1899: “More than once I have tried being morose for a whole day. I have not succeeded. Not ev...

“Do you ever feel that you spend too much time with books?”   The answer true to the spirit of the age would be to respond in the positive...

“Feeling admiration for someone is a privilege that becomes a calamity when the person we admire dies.”   With age, such calamities prolif...