Profits in business always depend on the rate of interest: the higher the interest, the higher the rate of profit required. James Buchan More Quotes by James Buchan More Quotes From James Buchan We read too much Shakespeare at school, and view our parliamentary politics as dynastic drama, in which an impatient crown prince frets at his long subordination and begins to scheme for the throne he knows he merits, was promised and has earned. James Buchan views drama school What holds an Arab leader in power is a mixture of violence and prestige. Both President Assad and King Hussein were felt to have defended Arab interests against the world. That, in the end, is more important than what they wear on their head. James Buchan important leader kings When Gordon the Brown, in London in 1997, commissioned a great inquisition or survey of his new realm, the result was the so-called national asset register (NAR), which was immediately dubbed by the boomers of the UK Treasury "the modern Domesday Book". James Buchan modern london book For all their current prestige, Osama bin Laden and the suicide bombers are still regarded in all but the most desperate districts of Gaza or Peshawar as romantics with little chance of more than symbolic victories, however bloody and brutal. That gives both the Middle East and the West a small and distant hope of security. James Buchan victory suicide giving To make a love story, you need a couple of young people, but to reflect on the nature of love, you're better off with old ones. That is a fact of life and literature - and of the novel ever since it fell in love with love in the 18th century. James Buchan couple love-you people Almost all novels are improved by cutting from the top. On their first pages, authors parade those favourite effects which disgust the impartial reader. James Buchan pages cutting firsts Ever since the destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258, the Muslim world has been in slow decline relative to the west. With Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and the creeping British annexation of Muslim India, that decline took on a malign aspect. James Buchan invasion egypt world Liberty in Islam is the liberty to be a Muslim, democracy likewise, individualism likewise. James Buchan islam democracy liberty Europe and North America, we are told, are less dependent on energy-intensive heavy industry than in the 1960s and 1970s. It seems we squeeze more GDP out of a barrel of oil than in those benighted days. James Buchan gdp oil europe Were there peace and justice in the Middle East, the Arabs would no more need their tinhorn dictators than they would their corpulent princes. James Buchan middle-east justice needs We generally write best of what we ourselves have seen. James Buchan writing The world survived the fall of the Roman empire and will no doubt outlast our own so much more splendid civilisation. James Buchan doubt world fall Saudi Arabia is a puritanical state that claims a monopoly of wisdom and virtue. James Buchan arabia virtue states Losing your capital is like losing your trousers. It is a real humiliation, and one not to be soon repeated. James Buchan humiliation real losing If good history is dispassionate history, it must naturally wait until the passions of the period subside. James Buchan passion waiting history By pouring money and goods into devastated regions, foreign aid workers sometimes compound the disruption and debauch the survivors. James Buchan pouring survivor sometimes Any new financial order for the world must tackle the three chief challenges of our age. James Buchan challenges birthday order All UK nuclear power stations should be shut down without delay. James Buchan delay nuclear should Saudi Arabia operates according to the belief that God made young men and women so utterly and completely without self-control that they must be physically segregated every moment of the day and night. James Buchan self men night Financial crises are like fireworks: they illuminate the sky even as they go pop. James Buchan fireworks financial sky