Wit penetrates; humor envelops. Wit is a function of verbal intelligence; humor is imagination operating on good nature. Peggy Noonan More Quotes by Peggy Noonan More Quotes From Peggy Noonan The Democrats had long labeled the impeachment debate a distraction from the urgent business of a great nation. But the Republicans argued that the pursuit of justice is the business of a great nation. In winning this point, they caught the falling flag, producing a triumph for the rule of law, a reassertion of the belief that no man is above it, and a rebuke for an arrogance that had grown imperial. Peggy Noonan winning men fall In ancient Israel and Rome the judge had appeared as a stand-in for the divine, and corruption was a blinding of the representative of the divine. Peggy Noonan rome israel judging A great speech is literature. Peggy Noonan great-speech speech literature TV gives everyone an image, but radio gives birth to a million images in a million brains. Peggy Noonan radio brain giving Candor is a compliment; it implies equality. It's how true friends talk. Peggy Noonan true-friend communication friendship I think miracles exist in part as gifts and in part as clues that there is something beyond the flat world we see. Peggy Noonan miracle world thinking Sincerity and competence is a strong combination. In politics, it is everything. Peggy Noonan sincerity politics strong This is the Democratic paradox: You want so much to run America and yet you seem not so fond of Americans. Peggy Noonan politics running america one way to keep people close to you is by not giving them enough. ... with people who give a lot of themselves, you sometimes lean back - but with people who give little you often lean forward, as if they're a spigot in the desert and you're the empty cup. It is the tropism of deprivation: We lean toward those who do not give. Peggy Noonan personality giving people By trying to do too much, you risk not doing enough. Peggy Noonan risk too-much trying Beware the politically obsessed. They are often bright and interesting, but they have something missing in their natures; there is a hole, an empty place, and they use politics to fill it up. It leaves them somehow misshapen. Peggy Noonan political nature interesting The biggest political change in my lifetime is that Americans no longer assume that their children will have it better than they did. This is a huge break with the past, with assumptions and traditions that shaped us. Peggy Noonan political children past What conservatives and Republicans must recognize is that the White House has broken with them. What President Bush is doing, and has been doing for some time, is sundering a great political coalition. Peggy Noonan broken white house What I got was not so much gifts and whishes come trues but a feeling of peace. I got peace itself, actually. And when you have peace, you can be strong; and when you are strong, you can get through what you have to get through, and not with exhaustion and frown marks and slumped shoulders but with relative happiness, and humor, and sometimes even gaiety. Peggy Noonan strong feelings sometimes If you commit a big crime then you are crazy, and the more heinous the crime the crazier you must be. Therefore you are not responsible, and nothing is your fault. Peggy Noonan faults crazy insanity Don't fall in love with politicians, they're all a disappointment. They can't help it, they just are. Peggy Noonan disappointment love fall Loyalty consists of many things, including being truthful with our friends. When you really disagree, you have to say so. Peggy Noonan including truthful loyalty It's better for the country when each party looks like it stands for something serious, for some big things, but they're not narrow and they're not bought. Peggy Noonan party serious country Naps are nature's way of reminding you that life is nice, like a beautiful swinging hammock strung between birth and infinity. Peggy Noonan inspirational-life nice beautiful Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It's unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don't have to try. ---in Good Housekeeping Peggy Noonan wisdom trying mean
