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The Quotable Hitchens: From Alcohol to Zionism -- The Very Best of Christopher Hitchens
Over the past few decades, the bestselling author of Hitch-22 has crisscrossed the globe debating religious scholars, Catholic clergy, rabbis, and devout Christians on the existence of God--appearances that have attracted thousands of people on both sides of the issue. He has been invited to talk shows and events to discuss everything from the death of Jerry Falwell to the sainthood of Mother Teresa, from U.S. policy in the Middle East to the dangers of religious fundamentalism and beyond. And he is always armed with pithy discourse that is as intelligent as it is quotable.
The Quotable Hitchens gathers for the first time the eminent journalist, public intellectual, and all-around provocateur Christopher Hitchen's most scathing, inflammatory, hilarious, and clear-cut commentary from the course of his storied career. Drawn from his many TV appearances, debates, lectures, interviews, articles, and books, the quotations are arranged alphabetically by subject--from atheism and alcoholism to George Orwell and Bertrand Russell, from Islamofascism and Iraq to smoking and sex.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 10, 2011
139 people are currently reading
2073 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Hitchens
164 books7,947 followersChristopher Hitchens was a British-American author, journalist, and literary critic known for his sharp wit, polemical writing, and outspoken views on religion, politics, and culture. He was a prolific essayist and columnist, contributing to publications such as The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, and The Nation.
A staunch critic of totalitarianism and organized religion, Hitchens became one of the most prominent public intellectuals of his time. His book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007) became a bestseller and solidified his place as a leading figure in the New Atheism movement. He was equally fearless in political criticism, taking on figures across the ideological spectrum, from Henry Kissinger (The Trial of Henry Kissinger, 2001) to Bill and Hillary Clinton (No One Left to Lie To, 1999).
Originally a socialist and supporter of left-wing causes, Hitchens later distanced himself from the left, particularly after the September 11 attacks, when he became a vocal advocate for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. His ideological shift, combined with his formidable debating skills, made him a controversial yet highly respected figure.
Hitchens was also known for his literary criticism, writing extensively on figures such as George Orwell, Thomas Jefferson, and Karl Marx. His memoir, Hitch-22 (2010), reflected on his personal and intellectual journey.
In 2010, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer but continued to write and speak publicly until his death in 2011. His fearless engagement with ideas, incisive arguments, and commitment to reason remain influential long after his passing.
A staunch critic of totalitarianism and organized religion, Hitchens became one of the most prominent public intellectuals of his time. His book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007) became a bestseller and solidified his place as a leading figure in the New Atheism movement. He was equally fearless in political criticism, taking on figures across the ideological spectrum, from Henry Kissinger (The Trial of Henry Kissinger, 2001) to Bill and Hillary Clinton (No One Left to Lie To, 1999).
Originally a socialist and supporter of left-wing causes, Hitchens later distanced himself from the left, particularly after the September 11 attacks, when he became a vocal advocate for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. His ideological shift, combined with his formidable debating skills, made him a controversial yet highly respected figure.
Hitchens was also known for his literary criticism, writing extensively on figures such as George Orwell, Thomas Jefferson, and Karl Marx. His memoir, Hitch-22 (2010), reflected on his personal and intellectual journey.
In 2010, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer but continued to write and speak publicly until his death in 2011. His fearless engagement with ideas, incisive arguments, and commitment to reason remain influential long after his passing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
January 18, 2013
Ugh, avoid avoid avoid - this chopping up of the splendid Mr Hitchens renders him into a bile-filled spleen queen you would run a mile on broken glass to avoid - plus how would it be if someone took sentences here and there from your random writings from the past 30 years out of context and presented them as the dernier mots of political wit - you may be saying whoah, don't do that please, these old arguments of my youth have surely lost their relevance, whatever points I was making will have been forgotten and I'll end up sounding like an upmarket Sneerometer - press the red button for a lofty putdown of Shimon Peres, John Major or Ed Muskie. Who? Exactly.
Junk this stupid book and read Christopher Hitchins' actual contextualised writing, where he doesn't sound like someone with a Mensa-level version of Tourette's Syndrome.
Junk this stupid book and read Christopher Hitchins' actual contextualised writing, where he doesn't sound like someone with a Mensa-level version of Tourette's Syndrome.
July 29, 2011
"What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence." "The measure of an education is that you acquire some extent of your ignorance." Have a feeling this will go into my Top Fav's list. Have only gotten through the Introduction and am already making highlights in my Kindle.
It's either love or hate him, there is no in between. Love Hitch & loved the quotes - and loved some more than others.
It's either love or hate him, there is no in between. Love Hitch & loved the quotes - and loved some more than others.
November 5, 2011
As a kid I would sometimes read quotationaries for hours, pouring over page after of page of witticisms, highlighting the ones I wanted to memorize. I remember believing that memorizing quotes about virtue would magically make me more virtuous and that storing up perfectly-worded insults would make me funnier. Both of these hopes were largely hollow (they mainly contribute to the making of a self-righteous prick), but the second has at least brought me joy. Bonding over beer and bombastic rants has solidified many a friendship in my life, and as every barroom orator knows, Christopher Hitchens is the patron saint of booze-propelled wit. This book shows many of his sharpest barbs, funniest quips, and most memorable complaints. Curmudgeon though he often may be, in scope and eloquence he is the closest thing we have to Dr. Johnson, or a one-man Bartlett’s.
June 19, 2016
In Which Mr. Hitchens Describes James Carville, in his Role as the Prosecutor in the Film The People v. Larry Flynt as "looking every inch the product of the love scene in Deliverance." [orig. rvw. 5/22/16]
I admit to being part of a crowd of people who chose not to read Hitchens on atheism/religion for fear of raising doubts. So, I'm exceedingly late to the party in reading and delighting in all of his legions of essays, opinions and reviews; his language and logic remind me of the incredible powers of the human brain. Just a few of my personal favorites:
"...Cameo parts are played by Flynt himself, as the judge who once gave him a quarter-century in the slammer, and James Carville, as the prosecutor in that very case and looking every inch like the product of the love scene in Deliverance.” [“Hustler with a Cause,” Vanity Fair, Nov. 1996]
“In their upwards of a dozen trysts, according to Ms. Lewinsky under oath, she would perform unconsummated oral sex on the leader of the Free World. She would then step back a few paces, disrobe, and perform a little dance while he completed matters on his own.... The president denies that this was a sexual relationship and, by my standards, he’s correct in doing so. This is the CD-Rom version of romancing a copy of Penthouse.” [Independent, August 1998].
“Donald Trump—a ludicrous figure, but at least he’s lived it up a bit in the real world, and at least he’s worked out how to cover 90 percent of his skull with 30 percent of his hair.” [London Rev. of Books, Jan. 2000].
“... The ability to laugh is one of the faculties that defines the human and distinguishes the species from other animals. (With the other higher mammals, which I do not in the least wish to insult, there may be high levels of playfulness and even some practical jokes, but no irony.) An individual deficient in the sense of humor represents more of a challenge to our idea of the human than a person of subnormal intelligence. ...” [Letters to a Young Contrarian (2001)]
All found in this treasure chest of a book.
I admit to being part of a crowd of people who chose not to read Hitchens on atheism/religion for fear of raising doubts. So, I'm exceedingly late to the party in reading and delighting in all of his legions of essays, opinions and reviews; his language and logic remind me of the incredible powers of the human brain. Just a few of my personal favorites:
"...Cameo parts are played by Flynt himself, as the judge who once gave him a quarter-century in the slammer, and James Carville, as the prosecutor in that very case and looking every inch like the product of the love scene in Deliverance.” [“Hustler with a Cause,” Vanity Fair, Nov. 1996]
“In their upwards of a dozen trysts, according to Ms. Lewinsky under oath, she would perform unconsummated oral sex on the leader of the Free World. She would then step back a few paces, disrobe, and perform a little dance while he completed matters on his own.... The president denies that this was a sexual relationship and, by my standards, he’s correct in doing so. This is the CD-Rom version of romancing a copy of Penthouse.” [Independent, August 1998].
“Donald Trump—a ludicrous figure, but at least he’s lived it up a bit in the real world, and at least he’s worked out how to cover 90 percent of his skull with 30 percent of his hair.” [London Rev. of Books, Jan. 2000].
“... The ability to laugh is one of the faculties that defines the human and distinguishes the species from other animals. (With the other higher mammals, which I do not in the least wish to insult, there may be high levels of playfulness and even some practical jokes, but no irony.) An individual deficient in the sense of humor represents more of a challenge to our idea of the human than a person of subnormal intelligence. ...” [Letters to a Young Contrarian (2001)]
All found in this treasure chest of a book.
March 6, 2011
Agree or disagree w/ Hitchens, he is never boring and always challenges us and the conventional wisdom.
May 4, 2011
Similar to Amis's "King's English", and just as witty. The book reads like Hitch is sitting on your couch, sharing a bottle of Walker, and cataloging complains and brewing axioms. One interesting point: the book complies TV and debate quotations, too. In print, it's wonderful to really notice how well-spoken he is. A fine book, but not a traditional book. Probably the best bathroom book I own.
April 18, 2020
As other reviewers have pointed out in one way or another, this isn’t anywhere close to an appropriate introduction to Christopher Hitchens. But the introduction by Martin Amis is reason enough to pick up this book:
“Christopher is one of the most terrifying rhetoricians that the world has yet seen. Lenin used to boast that his objective, in debate, was not rebuttal and then refutation: it was the “destruction” of his interlocutor. This isn’t Christopher’s policy—but it is his practice. Toward the very end of the last century, all our greatest chess players, including Gary Kasparov, began to succumb to a computer (named Deep Blue); I had the opportunity to ask two grandmasters to describe the Deep Blue experience, and they both said, “It’s like a wall coming at you.” In argument, Christopher is that wall. The prototype of Deep Blue was known as Deep Thought. And there’s a case for calling Christopher Deep Speech. With his vast array of geohistorical references and precedents, he is almost googlelike; but google (with, say, its ten million “results” in 0.7 seconds) is something of an idiot savant, and Christopher’s search engine is much more finely tuned. In debate, no matter what the motion, I would back him against Cicero, against Demosthenes.”
Excerpt From
The Quotable Hitchens: From Alcohol to Zionism--The Very Best of Christopher Hitchens.
“Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.” - Christopher Hitchens
“Christopher is one of the most terrifying rhetoricians that the world has yet seen. Lenin used to boast that his objective, in debate, was not rebuttal and then refutation: it was the “destruction” of his interlocutor. This isn’t Christopher’s policy—but it is his practice. Toward the very end of the last century, all our greatest chess players, including Gary Kasparov, began to succumb to a computer (named Deep Blue); I had the opportunity to ask two grandmasters to describe the Deep Blue experience, and they both said, “It’s like a wall coming at you.” In argument, Christopher is that wall. The prototype of Deep Blue was known as Deep Thought. And there’s a case for calling Christopher Deep Speech. With his vast array of geohistorical references and precedents, he is almost googlelike; but google (with, say, its ten million “results” in 0.7 seconds) is something of an idiot savant, and Christopher’s search engine is much more finely tuned. In debate, no matter what the motion, I would back him against Cicero, against Demosthenes.”
Excerpt From
The Quotable Hitchens: From Alcohol to Zionism--The Very Best of Christopher Hitchens.
“Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.” - Christopher Hitchens
February 1, 2012
ORIGINALITY: “Originality is a quality so rarely met with in humans that when it does occur it is often disputed.” [“Steal This Article,” Vanity Fair, May 1996]
So rare are there individuals who truly possess the faculties to continuously amaze and enlighten those with similar and differing opinions with as deft a command of the English language as Christopher Hitchens. With his passing in late 2011, human discourse has suffered greatly, and may have lost a considerable amount of intelligence. ‘The Quotable Hitchens’ is, for the avid fan, a bittersweet survey of this masterful language lost to eternity. For those who have tackled his prose previously, this work will feel like a well thought out eulogy (even though it was prepared prior to his death). For those unfamiliar with his work, it may serve as a buffet of introduction and a mere toe dip of the brilliance that may be encountered in his writing. Prepare to challenge yourself, your convictions, and, at times, your sense of humor.
R.I.P. Mr. Hitchens – may your immortality live on in your words and your challenges to the intellect.
WIT: “Wit, after all, is the unfailing symptom of intelligence.” C.H.
So rare are there individuals who truly possess the faculties to continuously amaze and enlighten those with similar and differing opinions with as deft a command of the English language as Christopher Hitchens. With his passing in late 2011, human discourse has suffered greatly, and may have lost a considerable amount of intelligence. ‘The Quotable Hitchens’ is, for the avid fan, a bittersweet survey of this masterful language lost to eternity. For those who have tackled his prose previously, this work will feel like a well thought out eulogy (even though it was prepared prior to his death). For those unfamiliar with his work, it may serve as a buffet of introduction and a mere toe dip of the brilliance that may be encountered in his writing. Prepare to challenge yourself, your convictions, and, at times, your sense of humor.
R.I.P. Mr. Hitchens – may your immortality live on in your words and your challenges to the intellect.
WIT: “Wit, after all, is the unfailing symptom of intelligence.” C.H.
July 13, 2019
These two stars are not aimed directly towards Hitchens, who is still one of my favorite human beings and possesses a razor sharp wit and keen perception of our world that stands alongside the Democritic Rationalists, but for the sheer choppiness of how his quotes are presented. Many of these ‘quotes’ are taken way out of context, missing over the meaning of the original essays they were printed in. These selected quotations only make Hitchens sound like a cantankerous old fart instead of a broad-thinking intellect.
If you are going to read Hitchens, I highly recommend Mortality and Christopher Hitchens: The Last Interview and Other Conversations. Better yet, go google some of his essays! He wrote practically on every subject under the sun, and offers funny, poignant, complexly rich thoughts on every one of them. If I had read this book before completely knowing about him or exploring his other works, I would have been turned off by the bitterness and hostile negativity.
If you are going to read Hitchens, I highly recommend Mortality and Christopher Hitchens: The Last Interview and Other Conversations. Better yet, go google some of his essays! He wrote practically on every subject under the sun, and offers funny, poignant, complexly rich thoughts on every one of them. If I had read this book before completely knowing about him or exploring his other works, I would have been turned off by the bitterness and hostile negativity.
September 22, 2012
"I have often thought that when I do die it will be of sheer boredom...
“Nonintervention does not mean that nothing happens. It means that something else happens.”
This man was not shy about his feelings on things. Agree or not, you just have to admire his blunt, honest assessments on issues. I wish there were more like him.
“Nonintervention does not mean that nothing happens. It means that something else happens.”
This man was not shy about his feelings on things. Agree or not, you just have to admire his blunt, honest assessments on issues. I wish there were more like him.
August 13, 2011
Three stars may be a misleadingly low rating. If I were rating "Christopher Hitchens" instead of "The Quotable Hitchens" the rating would be five stars. And there are parts of this book that are about as enjoyable as reading gets.
But the book was edited by Windsor Mann, not Hitchens. A number of the quotations are confusing or even incomprehensible out of context. There are certain of Hitchens' opinions (his views on Middle Eastern politics, for instance) which require pages, not a paragraph, to be comprehensible.
It's a virtual certainty that you won't agree with every opinion expressed in this book. Hitchens is such an independent and idiosyncratic thinker that I can't imagine anyone else sharing all his opinions. But because he is an independent and idiosyncratic thinker, I consider the book a must-read for Hitchens fans, despite the three stars.
If you're not a Hitchens fan, it may not be the best place to start. To form an opinion of him he has to be read in bigger chunks. Try the columns in Vanity Fair or Free Inquiry, or one of his books. I haven't read Letters to a Young Contrarian, but the quotes cited in this book make it sound terrific.
P.S. The forward by Martin Amis alone is worth the price of admission.
But the book was edited by Windsor Mann, not Hitchens. A number of the quotations are confusing or even incomprehensible out of context. There are certain of Hitchens' opinions (his views on Middle Eastern politics, for instance) which require pages, not a paragraph, to be comprehensible.
It's a virtual certainty that you won't agree with every opinion expressed in this book. Hitchens is such an independent and idiosyncratic thinker that I can't imagine anyone else sharing all his opinions. But because he is an independent and idiosyncratic thinker, I consider the book a must-read for Hitchens fans, despite the three stars.
If you're not a Hitchens fan, it may not be the best place to start. To form an opinion of him he has to be read in bigger chunks. Try the columns in Vanity Fair or Free Inquiry, or one of his books. I haven't read Letters to a Young Contrarian, but the quotes cited in this book make it sound terrific.
P.S. The forward by Martin Amis alone is worth the price of admission.
May 10, 2013
This book gathers a number of quotes from a variety of subjects by this eminent journalist, intellectual and public speaker. They come from all manner of media including among others, newspapers, journals articles, speeches, and debates.
Hitchens always has the ability to be on both sides of any argument and is willing to tackle almost any subject including those which no one else would ever consider commenting on (e.g. Mother Teresa and God).
Those who enjoy his writing will love this collection which is quite large and needs to be devoured in short bursts rather than at one or two sittings. The edition is hefty. This is no short handbook to Hitchens! But it is a book in which one is able to appreciate his incisive use of language, his ability to put a question in simple terms, and to articulate logical arguments when the need arises.
I really enjoyed this volume and any one who is a Hitchens fan will too.
Hitchens always has the ability to be on both sides of any argument and is willing to tackle almost any subject including those which no one else would ever consider commenting on (e.g. Mother Teresa and God).
Those who enjoy his writing will love this collection which is quite large and needs to be devoured in short bursts rather than at one or two sittings. The edition is hefty. This is no short handbook to Hitchens! But it is a book in which one is able to appreciate his incisive use of language, his ability to put a question in simple terms, and to articulate logical arguments when the need arises.
I really enjoyed this volume and any one who is a Hitchens fan will too.
December 17, 2011
This book is an excellent collection of quotes which you can use wherever necessary in your battles against smallmindedness everywhere. A previous reviewer said he was rating the book and not Hitchens, and thus gave it only 3 stars. I enthusiastically reverse this and rate Hitchens himself: 5 stars! He won't soon be forgotten.
January 25, 2013
Enjoyable but snippets don't lend themselves to analysis. At best it gave me some direction about what Hitchens I want to read next
January 4, 2021
This book, compiled just before his death, is a massive compilation of quotations/excerpts from the late and great Christopher Hitchens. As expected, no punches are pulled, and eloquent moments abound in the hundreds of topics considered. I didn’t always agree with what Hitchens said, but I often did, and his views are so razor sharp, thought-provoking, and entertaining that it didn’t really matter. And yes, it would be hell to debate this guy!
Above all, The Hitch relishes cutting things down he despises. The venom he spews about the Clintons, religion, Nixon‘s administration, Mother Teresa, and more are legendary. Hitchens is probably at his best combating religion (being a “non-theist” as he says) but these topics do not account for the majority of the book. Political events from the 1970s-2000s comprise a lot, and there are many random musings about various aspects of life. The range of this guy is beyond impressive!
Finally, each quote is referenced, and this is surprisingly useful because it leads you to some of Hitchens’ lesser known work. Clearly, Hitchens was a brilliant, unafraid, and legendary journalist and this book demonstrates it.
Above all, The Hitch relishes cutting things down he despises. The venom he spews about the Clintons, religion, Nixon‘s administration, Mother Teresa, and more are legendary. Hitchens is probably at his best combating religion (being a “non-theist” as he says) but these topics do not account for the majority of the book. Political events from the 1970s-2000s comprise a lot, and there are many random musings about various aspects of life. The range of this guy is beyond impressive!
Finally, each quote is referenced, and this is surprisingly useful because it leads you to some of Hitchens’ lesser known work. Clearly, Hitchens was a brilliant, unafraid, and legendary journalist and this book demonstrates it.
February 25, 2021
I am a huge fan of Christopher Hitchens but not of this book. First of all it was too long and could have been better condensed by half. I did unearth some of the pearls I was seeking from Hitchens’ vast treasury of aphorisms, quotes, insults and wisdom. I think the best introduction to Hitchens is to read a few of his essays and to gain the total experience, one of his many books. There are also many speeches, debates and conversations with Hitchens on Youtube.
Here are a few of my favorites:
“In the very recent past, we have seen the Church of Rome befouled by its complicity with the unpardonable sin of child rape, or, as it might be phrased in Latin form, ‘no child’s behind left.
A melancholy lesson of advancing years is the realization that you can’t make old friends.
The awful thing about growing older is that you begin to notice how every day consists of more and more subtracted from less and less.
The louder a man shouts for bombing and strafing, the less likely he is to have felt the weight of a pack.
If Jesus could heal a blind person he happened to meet, then why not heal blindness?
Exceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
Here are a few of my favorites:
“In the very recent past, we have seen the Church of Rome befouled by its complicity with the unpardonable sin of child rape, or, as it might be phrased in Latin form, ‘no child’s behind left.
A melancholy lesson of advancing years is the realization that you can’t make old friends.
The awful thing about growing older is that you begin to notice how every day consists of more and more subtracted from less and less.
The louder a man shouts for bombing and strafing, the less likely he is to have felt the weight of a pack.
If Jesus could heal a blind person he happened to meet, then why not heal blindness?
Exceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
December 29, 2018
Some good from the beginning...
"Alcohol is a good friend but a bad master."
"Alcohol makes other people less tedious, and food less bland, and can help provide what the Greeks called ethos, or the slight buzz of inspiration when reading or writing."
Quotes by the Hitch has been ideal reading while taking care of natural business. The naan had no end of intellectual quips about pretty much every topic from alcoholism to zionism!
Some good from the end...
"Wilde could never hope to escape the judgement of the pompous and the hypocritical, because he could not help teasing them."
"'Zero tolerance', they call it - one of those terms (like Drug Czar) that are unintentionally and usefully revealing. 'Zero tolerance' literally means, and literally intends, complete intolerance. Yet it is proclaimed by prissy liberals for whom the word 'tolerance' is a mantra, one of the fuzz-words of the room temperature America that they have in mind."
"Alcohol is a good friend but a bad master."
"Alcohol makes other people less tedious, and food less bland, and can help provide what the Greeks called ethos, or the slight buzz of inspiration when reading or writing."
Quotes by the Hitch has been ideal reading while taking care of natural business. The naan had no end of intellectual quips about pretty much every topic from alcoholism to zionism!
Some good from the end...
"Wilde could never hope to escape the judgement of the pompous and the hypocritical, because he could not help teasing them."
"'Zero tolerance', they call it - one of those terms (like Drug Czar) that are unintentionally and usefully revealing. 'Zero tolerance' literally means, and literally intends, complete intolerance. Yet it is proclaimed by prissy liberals for whom the word 'tolerance' is a mantra, one of the fuzz-words of the room temperature America that they have in mind."
November 8, 2024
Well… I got through it. I suppose I agree with about 55% of the ideas that Hitchens expressed, and really, with a book like this, it really is about finding expressed viewpoints that align with your own. However wittily expressed, I don’t that anyone’s mind has been changed, about anything. And, frankly (and I amusingly and palpably feel Hitchen’s condescension resulting from my use of such an exhausted expression), I’m actually not sure whether finding 8 syllable words to help express very basic notions really is in aid of anything but the author’s ego, and perhaps the stewards of Merriam-Webster. A generous 3 stars, in accordance with my opening statement.
November 6, 2020
"Writing. It gets harder the more you do it. Now that seems a shame. It should get easier. It should become more like a facility, for example. But it becomes more difficult, and it becomes more difficult because you are reading more and more work by better and better people."
"Solitude. I’m very happy by myself — I’m lucky in that way — if I’ve got enough to read and something to write about and a bit of alcohol for me to add an edge, not to dull it."
"Originality is a quality so rarely met with in humans that when it does occur it is often disputed."
"Solitude. I’m very happy by myself — I’m lucky in that way — if I’ve got enough to read and something to write about and a bit of alcohol for me to add an edge, not to dull it."
"Originality is a quality so rarely met with in humans that when it does occur it is often disputed."
January 21, 2018
Amazing thinker and writer. Do not agree with every single thought he had, but I admire the consistency in which he held his views. Wish he was around today. If you love Christopher Hitchens this is a great read.
July 18, 2017
"Is nothing sacred?", Hitchens is asked. "Of course not", he replies. :-)
September 16, 2018
I expected this to be a collection of essays, like The Quotable Atheist (edited by Hitchens). Instead it’s just a collection of two-to-three sentence quotes by Hitchens organized into general topics.
December 14, 2019
Iconoclast wit extraordinaire. Quotes are like broken off bits, snacks to whet your appetite for the essays that work us further along by the sharp elbows of his thought.
January 10, 2022
Just endless (literally aligned from A-Z) of random Hitchens-quotes with no context, not very exciting despite me being a big fan of Hitchens....
June 3, 2023
Felt obligated to finish it. I prefer reading the essays in question.
June 3, 2023
This book is a hack for life.
October 22, 2023
What can you say? Everything this man wrote was classic. This is a very detailed and lengthy set of his perspectives on virtually everything - from "A to Z" literally.
May 21, 2024
This book reminded me all over again what a tremendous loss it was losing Christopher Hitchens. Truly an irreplaceable literary genius.
February 12, 2014
Hitchens ressemble bien á Michel Houllebecq en France et Knud Romer au Danemark - un type qui est á la fois sarcastique, profond, drôle, mais aussi profondément triste. Ses remarques intelligentes réussissent á convaincre le lecteur de l’absurdité et l’hypocrisie de la religion, de la monarchie, George W. Bush et bien d’autres phénomènes de notre époque.
La pratique de l’Islam est un bon example: “Even as we worry about what they might intend for our society, we can see very plainly what they have in mind for their own: a bleak and sterile theocracy enforced by advance techniques”.
Ou sur la religion tout simple: “One definite way to prove that we are half a chromosome away from being chimpanzees is to look at our religious practices.”
Sarah Palin n'échappe pas non plus: The most arresting thing about Palin, indeed, is the absolutely unbreachable serenity of her ignorance. She already has all the information she requires. She knows, for example, how heaven fine-tunes practices in the Alaskan oil industry. This would laughable, if it weren’t creepy.
Terminons avec George W. Bush: “He’s unusually incurious, abnormally unintelligent, amazingly inarticulate, fantastically uncultured, extraordinarily uneducated, and apparently quite proud of all these things.” “I have never met anybody, even among the dimmest of my students, who wouldn’t in some ways be better qualified to be president of the United States.”
La pratique de l’Islam est un bon example: “Even as we worry about what they might intend for our society, we can see very plainly what they have in mind for their own: a bleak and sterile theocracy enforced by advance techniques”.
Ou sur la religion tout simple: “One definite way to prove that we are half a chromosome away from being chimpanzees is to look at our religious practices.”
Sarah Palin n'échappe pas non plus: The most arresting thing about Palin, indeed, is the absolutely unbreachable serenity of her ignorance. She already has all the information she requires. She knows, for example, how heaven fine-tunes practices in the Alaskan oil industry. This would laughable, if it weren’t creepy.
Terminons avec George W. Bush: “He’s unusually incurious, abnormally unintelligent, amazingly inarticulate, fantastically uncultured, extraordinarily uneducated, and apparently quite proud of all these things.” “I have never met anybody, even among the dimmest of my students, who wouldn’t in some ways be better qualified to be president of the United States.”
September 19, 2012
Hitchens himself acknowledged quotes can easily be taken out of context.
It's a good read to familiarize yourself with some of the Hitch's opinions on various topics (Bill Clinton, Reagan, Iraq War, Israel, humor, mortality), however, without a comprehensive read of Hitchens, some of it is easily taken out of context.
Sometimes the barrage of quotes makes it sound like he was an ignorant, stereotyping, shoot-from-the-hip type of guy, but he was so much more than that.
I'm confident that any quote which comes off as a knee-jerk blanket statement in the book was deeply intentioned with regards to insult, humor and position by Hitchens. Any refutation in the context of the quote would have already been considered by the Hitch and he would colloquially 'Hitch-slap' your argument away with another witty quote, which is why a book like this can be created.
Everytime he spoke, something was quotable.. and people just loved to take aim at him.
RIP.
It's a good read to familiarize yourself with some of the Hitch's opinions on various topics (Bill Clinton, Reagan, Iraq War, Israel, humor, mortality), however, without a comprehensive read of Hitchens, some of it is easily taken out of context.
Sometimes the barrage of quotes makes it sound like he was an ignorant, stereotyping, shoot-from-the-hip type of guy, but he was so much more than that.
I'm confident that any quote which comes off as a knee-jerk blanket statement in the book was deeply intentioned with regards to insult, humor and position by Hitchens. Any refutation in the context of the quote would have already been considered by the Hitch and he would colloquially 'Hitch-slap' your argument away with another witty quote, which is why a book like this can be created.
Everytime he spoke, something was quotable.. and people just loved to take aim at him.
RIP.
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