They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly.
But, bear-like, I must fight the course.

William Shakespeare, Macbeth

“Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.”

Elie Wiesel, Nobel lecture, December 11, 1986

Jerry Lewis “introduces” James Brown on The Jerry Lewis Show in 1968:

(This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)

“Human life begins on the far side of despair.”

Jean-Paul Sartre, The Flies

From 2008:

I have a Facebook page, believe it or not, but I don’t do Irony Lite, nor do I care whether other people find my tastes insufficiently cool, much less insufficiently “white” (by which Stuff White People Like, needless to say, means something very different from that which was meant when I was growing up in southeast Missouri half a lifetime ago).

As it happens, I tried to take Stuff White People Like’s Facebook test yesterday, but gave it up after running into three consecutive questions for which my answer was None of the above, which was not an option….

Read the whole thing here.

“Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim.”

Graham Greene, The Heart of the Matter

Kingsley Amis is interviewed by Simon Raven on Monitor. The interview, introduced by Huw Wheldon, was originally telecast by the BBC on February 2, 1958:

(This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)

“Despair is the conclusion of fools.”

Benjamin Disraeli, The Wondrous Tale of Alroy