notes

January 28, 2010
*************************
AN HONEST ANSWER
***************************************************
Asked how he had managed to survive the Stalinist purges when so many of his contemporaries had perished, Avedik Issahakian is said to have replied: “By applauding the murderers.”
For more on this remarkable interview, see Antranig Chalabian, DRO (DRASTAMAT KANAYAN), page 269.
*
To be read by friendly readers: nothing unusual in that.
To be read by hostiles: That’s where the money is,
because it means being allowed the opportunity
to introduce thoughts where none exist.
*
Even after you prove to him that his position is untenable,
an Armenian will go on defending it to the bitter end,
like a captain going down with the ship.
That’s his way of asserting his manhood.
I don’t write for readers whose central concern is their own manhood.
That would be like writing about hallucinations.
#
January 29, 2010
*************************
FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
****************************************
Even when we speak of others, we speak of ourselves.
*
Martin Luther (1483-1546): "I am more afraid of my own heart than of the Pope and his cardinals. I have within me the great Pope, Self."
*
If the Turks say what really matters is only their side of the story, we should not say the same about our side of the story.
*
The cruelest thing that has happened to Armenian writers after they were systematically and ruthlessly slaughtered by Talaat and Stalin was to become dependent on the charity of swine.
*
There are those who think membership in a party qualifies them as experts on Armenian history, culture, and human nature.
*
I believe in progress. I believe in human perfectibility. I believe in the ultimate triumph of reason. These are my three greatest illusions.
*
I wish God existed so that He would punish all those who dared to speak in His name.
*
To speak the truth privately but not publicly is to compound the felony of perjury with cowardice.
*
Gordon W. Allport: "Many studies have discovered a close link between prejudice and patriotism. Extreme bigots are almost always super-patriots."
*
It is only by confronting our dark side that we may see the light.
*
Commissars and mullahs are philistines, that is to say, killers who adopt an ideology or religion to legitimize their killer instincts.
*
It is the height of non sequitur to call Turks barbarians and to demand justice from them.
*
There will come a time when people will reject all religions and ideologies simply because imams and commissars believe in them.
*
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), political philosopher: "Under conditions of tyranny it is far easier to act than to think."
*
Kingsley Amis (1922-1995), English novelist: "If you can't annoy somebody with what you write, I think there's little point in writing."
#
January 30, 2010
*************************
ONE-LINERS
****************************************
A good diplomat can charm a cobra or it takes one to know one.
*
“Armenians of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your dividers.” What if this slogan succeeds only in producing our own Stalin?
*
My favorite genre: brevity.
*
To be self-righteous and to be wrong might as well be synonymous.
*
Arrogance allows a man to think he has all the answers even when none of them is right.
*
To be sure means to ignore one's doubts.
*
One way to define freedom of speech is by saying even the ablest statesman is not qualified to tell even the worst scribbler what to write.
*
The spirit of contradiction in some Armenians is so highly developed that if you were to agree with them they would disagree with you.
*
It is now time that we think of lamentation and hatred as experiments that failed and try another approach.
#