By definition a bore is predictable. if you think you know in advance what a man is apt to say or do, you are… — Gore Vidal

It is one thing to use text to illustrate a point one is making, but quite another to quote merely to demonstrate the excellence of one's memory.

Constantinople has no past; only a noisy present and a splendid future, if the auguries are to be believed.

...for ferocity there is nothing on Earth equal a Christian bishop hunting "heresy", as they call any opinion contrary to their own.