“... The example then stands as an emblem of the correct relationship between the two. Yet the case may tell us less than we might infer from Ginzburg’s use of it. In the Latin languages a single word – prova, preuve, prueba – covers what in English are distinguished as ‘proof’ and ‘evidence’. Evidence alone is not necessarily decisive: we can ...”

“... of being prickly but pusillanimous (it subsequently emerged that these facets of his personality may have been exacerbated by an undisclosed thyroid condition that also had the unfortunate side-effect of making him fat; as he got plumper, Thatcher got thinner). Heath wanted to micro-manage the economy but lacked the ability to exert his will. The new intake ...”

“... Chinese Writing Novels about peasants are generally good (In general the peasantry is good) They may sound rather boring But they are not One of them is entitled ‘The Well’ And set in a remote village Where are many hardships Another is called ‘The Village’ Concerning a peasant and his wife Who have two sons And each son has a wife (If the Chinese ...”

“... told the story – who can tell? A cockroach in a kitchen is the truth. A cockroach in a story may be lies. The insect was both noble and uncouth. The writer makes a life from ...”

“... first words were ‘It is very beautiful over there.’ John Ford’s first words were ‘May I please have a cigar?’ Ulysses S. Grant’s first word was ‘Water.’ Prince Henry’s first words were ‘I would say something but I cannot utter.’ Washington Irving’s first words were ‘When will this end?’ James Joyce’s first words were ...”

“... from purgatorial distances in places such as this where once in ten years a desert-traveller may catch a scent of it wafted from a passing angel, as I from a sliver of satin in an airmail ...”

“... and a long, dirty fingernail pierces a bay. Yes, I like the cut of you, hitchhiker, hijacker, you may case your backpack into my hatchback, let your sleeping-bag roll on the back-seat as the exhaust-pipe opens its flyblown parachute. One by one, the road-signs flicker by and we sleepwalk under the skin of a car, passing the lay-by, the drive-in eatery, the ...”

“... one born to it will stand at the start of knowledge, and lending a fond ear to the drone, he may have parley with old folks of old affairs. Neil Munro, ‘The Lost Pibroch’ We were talking about the hills when the land fell silent. By that time, the deer were cartoons, soft focus in the rear-view mirror, the hare in our headlamps brotherly to ...”

“... then, not a peep Till the day of the Resurrection. Empty Barbershop In pursuit of happiness, you may yet Draw close to it momentarily In one of these two leather-bound chairs With the help of scissors and a comb, Draped to the chin with a long white sheet, While your head slips through The invisible barber’s greasy fingers Making your hair stand up ...”

“... of gallows, And crows with no carrion in sight Caw to each other of better days. The congregation may still be at prayer. Farm folk from fly-specked photos Standing in rows with their heads bowed As if listening to your approaching steps. So slow they are, you must be asking yourself How come we are here one minute And in the very next gone for ever? Try the ...”

“... scattered light a trawl from pale yellow to darkish brown and when peat is washed down, sunlight may lose itself, cannot scatter and the lake becomes black. I can tell you, impasto giving weight, how to make a profession of mute things, but remain at a loss to figure how the weight of water can be so sinister. Newfoundland Time Round the planting of the Gort ...”

“... working-class involvement. Not everything, though, is unplanned. The survival of a school may depend upon market forces, but the stage at which pupils should know the placing of a comma is determined by the Secretary of State. The National Curriculum, in which these powers are embodied, is a towering, highly detailed landmark of planning, amid the ...”

“... cannot aspire to be more than social chemistry ... The time for social physics is not yet here and may never come.’ Even the social chemistry is bitty, confined to ‘specifying small and medium-sized mechanisms for human action and interaction’. He would not be surprised, he remarks engagingly, if readers likened his bits and pieces to rabbits running ...”

“... date nowadays ... but I don’t believe people care a damn, so long as the story is funny.’ He may be ‘archaic’, assuming a state of affairs as out of date as Three Men in a Boat: but ‘I believe that people will jump at something that takes them away from modern conditions.’ ‘I read a book about Dickens the other day which pointed out that D was ...”

“... Whatever, you may be wondering, became of the mind-body problem? This new collection of Colin McGinn’s philosophical papers is as good a place to find out as any I know of. Published over a period of more than a decade, and drawn together from the usual motley of largely inaccessible academic journals, these essays provide a vivid introduction to current views in the philosophy of mind and to their immediate precursors ...”