Sentence of the Day

From Edward St. Aubyn Some Hope (A Trilogy):

I could really pick almost any sentence from any of the three books. But here's one (from the third book).

p. 288-289, Patrick Melrose is speaking to Johnny Hall.
"...I don't suppose that forgiveness was uppermost in the minds of people who were being nailed to a cross until Jesus, if not the first man  with a Christ complex still the most successful, wafted onto the scene. Presumably those who enjoyed inflicting cruelty could hardly believe their luck and set about popularizing the superstition that their victims could only achieve peace of mind by forgiving them."
" You don't think it might be a profound spiritual truth?" asked Johnny?
Patrick puffed out his cheeks. "I suppose it might be, but as far as I'm concerned, what is meant to show the spiritual advantages of forgiveness in fact shows the psychological advantages of thinking you're the son of God."

Sentence of the day:

From The New Yorker, Oct. 28 3013.
"Hidden City" by Ian Frazier, an article about New York's homeless problem. This sentence comes close to letting style trump substance--a sentence this witty borders on out of place in an article about such a serious issue. But I think it stays on the acceptable side.

"In fact [i.e, in contrast to general perceptions], during the twelve years of the Bloomberg administration, the number of homeless people has gone through the roof they do not have."

Sentence of the Day

De Álvaro Pombo, El metro de platino irradiado (Anagrama, 1990)
p. 70: "De lo individual a lo común solo hay un paso y es numérico. Lo contrario de lo común no es lo individual sino lo singular; nuestras intimidades son comunes (de hecho suelen ser vulgaridades), sólo nuestras singularidades de verdad nos separan de cualquiera y gracias a no ser uno cualquiera puede uno ver y, sobre todo, decir qué es y qué no es singular en cada cosa."