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The contrarian dogma is simple and easy to understand: "Whatever is popular is wrong," as Oscar Wilde proclaimed at London's Royal Academy of Arts."
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Windsor Mann |
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What the above examples reveal is not a man prone to the faux pas, but a gentleman--strictly defined, by Hitchens, as "someone who is never rude except on purpose." A spectacular instance of his gentlemanliness occurred during an appearance on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher. Unlike most guests, Hitchens did not try to flatter or pacify the audience. Instead, after being booed and jeered for pointing out the horrors of a nuclear Iran, he ra..
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Windsor Mann |
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One of the most idiotic jeers against animal lovers is the one about their preferring critters to people. As a matter of observation, it will be found that people who 'care'--about rain forests or animals, miscarriages of justice or dictatorships-- are, though frequently irritating, very often the same people. Whereas those who love hamburgers and riskless hunting and mink coats are not in the front ranks of Amnesty International.
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Windsor Mann |
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If you really care about a serious cause or a deep subject, you may have to be prepared to be boring about it." [Letters to a Young Contrarian (New York: Basic Books, 2001), 122]"
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Windsor Mann |