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249

Ancient Glittering Eyes

on Bertrand Russell

5
terms
3
notes

oh this one was great. I didn't realise Russell was so versatile (see note 338). about the life of Bertrand Russell, who had been brought up an aristocrat and later adopted a sort of muted Jacobinism (note 265)

Steiner, G. (2009). Ancient Glittering Eyes. In Steiner, G. At the New Yorker. New Directions, pp. 249-259

249

[...] Russell has debated philosophy with Wittgenstein and fiction with Conrad and D. H. Lawrence, he has argued economics with Keynes and civil disobedience with Gandhi, his open letters have provoked Stalin to a reply and Lyndon Johnson to exasperation. [...]

and of course he wrote about mathematical logic and philosophy (most notably in Principia Mathematica along with Alfred North Whitehead)

—p.249 by George Steiner 7 years, 6 months ago

[...] Russell has debated philosophy with Wittgenstein and fiction with Conrad and D. H. Lawrence, he has argued economics with Keynes and civil disobedience with Gandhi, his open letters have provoked Stalin to a reply and Lyndon Johnson to exasperation. [...]

and of course he wrote about mathematical logic and philosophy (most notably in Principia Mathematica along with Alfred North Whitehead)

—p.249 by George Steiner 7 years, 6 months ago
253

"This is very good port they have given me, but why have they given it me in a claret glass."

a Bertrand Russell anecdote (apparently William Gladstone said it in Bertrand Russell's vicinity)

—p.253 by George Steiner 7 years, 7 months ago

"This is very good port they have given me, but why have they given it me in a claret glass."

a Bertrand Russell anecdote (apparently William Gladstone said it in Bertrand Russell's vicinity)

—p.253 by George Steiner 7 years, 7 months ago

(noun) a mature bird or pair of birds with a brood of young / (noun) a small flock / (noun) company group

253

He was the grandson of a Prime Minister and cousin or nephew to a covey of military, diplomatic, and ecclesiastical worthies.

on Bertrand Russell

—p.253 by George Steiner
uncertain
7 years, 7 months ago

He was the grandson of a Prime Minister and cousin or nephew to a covey of military, diplomatic, and ecclesiastical worthies.

on Bertrand Russell

—p.253 by George Steiner
uncertain
7 years, 7 months ago

(noun) a plant (as a fruit tree) trained to grow flat against a support (as a wall) / (noun) a railing or trellis on which fruit trees or shrubs are trained to grow flat / (verb) to train as an espalier / (verb) to furnish with an espalier

253

This was the England of espaliers and velvet lawns

forgot the meaning

—p.253 by George Steiner
uncertain
7 years, 7 months ago

This was the England of espaliers and velvet lawns

forgot the meaning

—p.253 by George Steiner
uncertain
7 years, 7 months ago
254

[...] But Russell's Jacobinism is high Tory; it springs from the certitude that birth and genius are impose both the right and the obligation of moral precept. [...] True politics are the art of securing elbowroom for the best; they will alienate the squalor in the world at large that embarrasses or dissipates the life of the mind. [...]

Bertrand Russell was born and brought up an aristrocrat: grandson of a Prime Minister; extended family definitely in the ruling class (Whig aristrocracy of Victorian England)

—p.254 by George Steiner 7 years, 7 months ago

[...] But Russell's Jacobinism is high Tory; it springs from the certitude that birth and genius are impose both the right and the obligation of moral precept. [...] True politics are the art of securing elbowroom for the best; they will alienate the squalor in the world at large that embarrasses or dissipates the life of the mind. [...]

Bertrand Russell was born and brought up an aristrocrat: grandson of a Prime Minister; extended family definitely in the ruling class (Whig aristrocracy of Victorian England)

—p.254 by George Steiner 7 years, 7 months ago

(noun) an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose

254

the small, vibrant coterie of Apostles to which he belonged at Cambridge

on Bertrand Russell

—p.254 by George Steiner
notable
7 years, 7 months ago

the small, vibrant coterie of Apostles to which he belonged at Cambridge

on Bertrand Russell

—p.254 by George Steiner
notable
7 years, 7 months ago

(noun) a command or principle intended especially as a general rule of action / (noun) an order issued by legally constituted authority to a subordinate official

254

birth and genius are impose both the right and the obligation of moral precept

—p.254 by George Steiner
uncertain
7 years, 7 months ago

birth and genius are impose both the right and the obligation of moral precept

—p.254 by George Steiner
uncertain
7 years, 7 months ago

(noun) a small projection on the bottom of a hinged church seat that gives support to a standing worshiper when the seat is turned up

254

This aristocratic misericord

—p.254 by George Steiner
unknown
7 years, 7 months ago

This aristocratic misericord

—p.254 by George Steiner
unknown
7 years, 7 months ago