As I got ready for my morning run today, I thought about how I might maintain a safe distance from others who happened to be outside — wasted effort, as it turned out. The banks of the Charles were almost empty, and I had the chance to do some serious thinking. It was the thought of that unknowable figure — undoubtedly growing greater by the day — that gave me reason to keep moving forward this morning. He invoked the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the early Nazi victories on the Eastern front in Europe — and the teachings of Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian. As my distinguished predecessor Alan Simpson once observed, the problem with well-rounded students is that they will roll wherever they are pushed.

Source: International New York Times March 24, 2020 21:11 UTC