Loyal readers of this weblog (yes, all three of you!) may wonder why every day I include a quote from Victor Hugo. Well, 26 February 2002 will be the 200th anniversary of Hugo's birth, so I suppose you could say I'm starting the celebration a little early. Over the last few years I have read nearly every scrap of Hugo that has been translated into English, during which process I have gathered many quotes from his writings. Rather than force people to read all those quotes at one sitting, I figure I'll parcel them out day by day and address them to the topical (or not-so-topical) issues I discuss here. Naturally what is topical today will become obscure tomorrow, but I hope that the quotes I've gathered from Hugo will remain of value when I revisit these pages in years to come.
Today's quote: "History is night. That which is no longer on the stage immediately fades into obscurity. The scene is shifted, and all is forgotten." (The Man Who Laughs, II.8.iii)