notebooks

Friday, June 24, 2011
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THEM AND US (III)
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As long as there are Armenians,
Turks will never be able to convince the world
they are a progressive and civilized nation
incapable of behaving like bloodthirsty Asiatic barbarians;
and as long as there are Kurds,
democracy and Turks will be perceived as
mutually exclusive concepts.
*
Americans will never use the word “genocide”
in reference to Armenians so long as Turks tell them:
“We did to our Armenians
what you did to your Indians.”
*
Tell me your favorite sport
and I will tell you who you are.
What’s ping pong to the Chinese,
hockey is to Canadians,
baseball is to Yanks,
massacre is to Turks,
and the blame-game is to Armenians.
*
Silencing dissent is a band-aid solution.
*
“An insult unanswered is the parent of many others.”
*
Cicero: “Do not hold the delusion that
your advancement is accomplished
by crushing others.”
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Saturday, June 25, 2011
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FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
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I understand Turks
because I understand Armenians,
and I understand both
because I understand myself.
As for Armenians and Turks:
they understand only the misdeeds of the opposition.
*
Because they want to forget what I say,
they tell me I repeat myself.
*
When asked what had been
the most important day in his life,
Napoleon is said to have replied:
"The day of my first communion."
My own first communion was such a forgettable event
that the only thing I remember about it
is the above quote (probably apocryphal) by Napoleon.
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