Every now and then I will see a word as if for the first time, and suddenly appreciate that Evian is 'naive' spelled backward, or that Bosnia is an anagram of 'bonsai.'
Interpretation
The quote highlights the joy of discovering new perspectives and connections in seemingly ordinary words.
Christopher Hitchens illustrates the delightful realization that words can hold hidden meanings or associations, such as the fact that 'Evian' spelled backward is 'naive' and that 'Bosnia' is an anagram of 'bonsai.' This moment of insight encourages us to appreciate language and its intricacies, reminding us that there is often more beneath the surface of familiar things.
In practice
In a lecture on linguistics, you might use this quote to illustrate the beauty of language.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way — because it’s had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But you’ve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.
Prayer and praise are the oars by which a man may row his boat into the deep waters of the knowledge of Christ.
Surely the experience of all good men confirms the proposition that without a due measure of private devotions the soul will grow lean.
There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.
If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?
For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain.
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