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Article: In praise of a famous man.(Winston Churchill)
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- May 20, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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This essay is adapted from an address to the International Churchill Society.
WHEN I was a boy I came upon the line from Ecclesiastes, "Let us now praise famous men." In succeeding decades I have found myself running its implications through my mind.
Early on I wondered why exactly it was thought appropriate, let alone necessary, to praise famous men. If such men as were to be praised were already famous, as the Biblical injunction presupposes, then would they not disdain as either redundant, or immodest, the solicitation of more praise than they had already? It seemed, in that perspective, just a little infra dig to enjoin such praise.
Some time later ...