A Great Tribute

From "The Guardian", Hitchens and Amis, 1985.


Martin Amis wrote a fantastic tribute and set of observations of his friend Christopher Hitchens in The Guardian. Hitchens has always been a complelling persona and to read these quotes, memories and jots from Amis was touching. I especially enjoyed the memories of Hitchens Shakspearean insults and comments in the article. Below are some soundbites typical of Hitchens.


"There is, especially in the American media, a deep belief that insincerity is better than no sincerity at all."

"One reason to be a decided antiracist is the plain fact that 'race' is a construct with no scientific validity. DNA can tell you who you are, but not what you are."

"A melancholy lesson of advancing years is the realisation that you can't make old friends."

"This is an argument about the socialisation of homosexuality, not the homosexualisation of society. It demonstrates the spread of conservatism, not radicalism, among gays."

[I]n America, your internationalism can and should be your patriotism."

"It is only those who hope to transform human beings who end up by burning them, like the waste product of a failed experiment."

"This has always been the central absurdity of 'moral', as opposed to 'political' censorship: If the stuff does indeed have a tendency to deprave and corrupt, why then the most depraved and corrupt person must be the censor who keeps a vigilant eye on it."

"What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence"

"A Holocaust denier is a Holocaust affirmer."