Tres Bons Mots (See How They Run)

What do you do if you’re sued or arrested in Kenya? People who live in Nairobi have a saying,

“Why hire a lawyer when you can buy a judge?”

– reported by Hillary Clinton after a visit in August

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A reassuring note for fans of Adam Smith:

“The invisible hand is a metaphor, not a transcendent appendage.”

– H. Allen Orr

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Finally, Mark Twain’s reaction to the Republicans’ pledge in their 1900 platform to bring Christian sweetness and light to the “dark places of the earth:”

“Shall we go on conferring our Civilization upon the peoples that sit in darkness, or shall we give those poor things a rest?

“Would it not be prudent to get our Civilization tools together and see how much stock is left on hand in the way of Glass Beads and Theology and Maxim Guns and Torches of Progress and Enlightenment (good to fire villages with, on occasion) so that we may intelligently decide whether to continue the business or sell out the property and start a new Civilization Scheme on the proceeds?”

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