#stern

These people being of a sharp and acute intellect, and gifted with a rich and powerful understanding, excel in whatever studies they pursue, and are more quick and cunning than the other inhabitants of a western clime. ↗

— Giraldus Cambrensis

#being #clime #cunning #excel #gifted

The world dominion of western thought, forms of organisation, technology and military force is not God-given, nor eternal, nor greatly appreciated by the rest of the world. ↗

— James Buchan

#dominion #eternal #force #forms #god-given

There are signs that the age of petroleum has passed its zenith. Adjusted for inflation, a barrel of crude oil now sells for three times its long-run average. The large western oil companies, which cartellised the industry for much of the 20th century, are now selling more oil than they find, and are thus in the throes of liquidation. ↗

— James Buchan

#adjusted #age #average #barrel #century

The markets where we've got real good presence are the older, more mature markets like Australia, and Western Europe - where we've only got 6,000 stores, compared to the US with 13,000. ↗

— Jim Cantalupo

#compared #europe #good #got #like

At issue in the Hiss Case was the question whether this sick society, which we call Western civilization, could in its extremity still cast up a man whose faith in it was so great that he would voluntarily abandon those things which men hold good, including life, to defend it. ↗

— Whittaker Chambers

#call #case #cast #civilization #could

The Western musical canon came about not merely by accumulation, but by opposition and subversion, both to the ruling powers on whom composers depended for their livelihoods and to other musics. ↗

— Brian Ferneyhough

#both #came #canon #composers #depended

The Macau casinos have a wonderful business, it's taking in money from Chinese businessmen elsewhere who send it through junky companies to casinos to gamble. The growth continues and they have basically western managers and western accounting, so we trust the numbers a little bit more. ↗

— James Chanos

#basically #bit #business #businessmen #casinos

It's only Western civilization that, God forbid, you talk about dying, when it's the only thing we know for certain, right? Everyone's going to die, so what's the big problem? 'Oh, God. Don't talk about it. Don't think about it.' I mean, I'm one of them. I'm not a big fan of talking about dying. ↗

— Abel Ferrara

#big #big fan #big problem #certain #civilization

If I just produce the transparent ideal accepted by the Western experts, a process of privatization which will be very good but never happen, that means nothing. ↗

— Anatoly Chubais

#experts #good #happen #i #ideal

Opera, next to Gothic architecture, is one of the strangest inventions of Western man. It could not have been foreseen by any logical process. ↗

— Kenneth Clark

#architecture #been #could #foreseen #gothic