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 is your idea of earthly happiness? To be vindicated in my own lifetime.

The search for Nirvana, like the search for Utopia or the end of history or the classless society, is ultimately a futile and dangerous one. It involves, if it does not necessitate, the sleep of reason. There is no escape from anxiety and struggle.

The point of protesting about 'moral equivalence' is surely not to blur moral choices on ‘our side’. Is it?

Hesitate once, hesitate twice, hesitate a hundred times before employing political standards as a device for the analysis and appreciation of poetry.

It ought to be an offense to be excruciating and unfunny in circumstances where your audience is almost morally obliged to enthuse.