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De omnibus dubitandum
Christopher Hitchens
Author: Adamus16 Dec 2011
I suppose almost everyone has one or more heroes, people they look up to and want to emulate. I have two such people. One is my father, whose strength, generosity, and gentle wisdom I sincerely hope are hereditary traits that will one day begin to manifest in me. The other is Christopher Hitchens.
The Hitch, as he is colloquially known, is my superhero. Some people dream about having superpowers – superstrength, the ability to fly, immortality, that sort of thing. I dreamt about having Hitchens’ power: a vast intellect combined with ferociously eloquent wit.
The Hitch died yesterday after a brief but fierce battle with cancer. As he passed away in a hospital in Texas, I was in a pub in Belfast drinking scotch whiskey, surrounded by a group of highly interesting and intelligent people. I can think of no more fitting tribute.
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Adamus is the online identity of Barry Adams. A Dutchman living in Northern Ireland, Barry / Adamus is an internet fanatic, skeptic, technophile, gamer, and geek. On this personal blog he provides his unpolished view of the world and its insanities.
6 Responses for "Christopher Hitchens"
It was certainly a life that was lived. Hunter S. Thompson puts it rather well:
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a Ride!’”
“…as if shot from a cannon”
Very good…
Have to come back to this very briefly. (I could go on all day). I’m an atheist, though I’m not sure that you can blame religion for as much of the misery in the world as Hitchen’s does. I think there are a scarily large number of nutters in the world who gravitate towards it, but if it didn’t exist they would find other ways to inflict suffering on others.
By the way – I once had a conversation many years ago on a blog (can’t remember where) – that asked people what the most important things in their life were. Once American (and I know not all Americans are mad) wrote that numbr one was God, number 2 was his family etc.
I said – so if God asked you to kill your family, you would? He actually said “Yes!” (and he wasn’t joking).
I wonder would that stand up in court? (It probably would in some countries).
Again thanks for introducing Hitchens to me. Read a lot of his work. Best and Groeten, Jan
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