Sometimes I think all the trouble in the world is caused by intellectuals who have an “idea.”
—David Hare, Stuff Happens
Saints should always be judged guilty until proven innocent, though the tests that have to be applied to them are not, of course, the same in all cases.
—George Orwell, “Reflections on Gandhi”
Yet sit and see, Minding true things by what their mock’ries be.
—Shakespeare, Henry V, iv:I
When I was in London recently, I happened to walk down Haymarket on my way to Trafalgar Square. As I neared Pall Mall, I caught the glint—white embossed lettering on cerulean field—of a blue plaque, one that I’d not noticed before.
As any visitor to London knows, the blue plaques are one of the quiet glories of the city. The attractively glazed discs, about the size of a luncheon plate, punctuate the cityscape, commemorating an impressive procession of historical worthies. Did you know that Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727), “natural philosopher,” lived on Jermyn Street? Or that Mozart (1756–1791) “composed his first symphony” at 180 Ebury Street, SW1? I have several times taken a short “blue plaque tour” in some corner of London with a friend whose knowledge of London is as encyclopedic as it is infectious. There are some striking conjunctions. Hyde
