Liberals we know all about. They are celebrated from a thousand MSM mouthpieces. But when conservatives pass on we find, from the reminiscences of friends and acquaintances, that we hardly knew ’em.
Here is Milton Friedman remembered by Charles H. Brunie.
Once when Milton was in New York visiting some of Oppenheimer’s clients, we had a cocktail party after a long day. A young man asked him a question in an exceedingly rude manner—again and again. Milton’s response was very gracious. The next morning Milton was debating James Tobin, another Nobel laureate, at the Institutional Investor conference, with perhaps 1,000 attendees. Tobin asked almost the exact same question as had the young man the prior evening, but he did it very politely. Milton went at him hammer and tongs. Later, I asked Milton why he was so polite to the young man and so aggressive with Tobin. He replied, “The young chap didn’t know what he was talking about. Conversely, James did—it was an ambush question, and I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.”
Now we have the reminiscences of Pat Buckley, Mrs. William F. Buckley, Jr. from NRO. Writes William Rusher:
The news of Pat Buckley’s death prompted two quite diverse reflections. The first was the memory of her many quiet kindnesses. Indeed, “quiet” is hardly an adequate word; “secret” might be better. In any case, they were wonderful. By pure chance, I learned that she had visited one friend every day for the last two weeks of his life, as it ebbed away owing to a mortal illness. To be there when you really needed her: That was Pat.
Well, who knew? A rude young man graciously tolerated? A New York socialite making the time for daily visits to a friend in the last two weeks of life?
Maybe that’s how it should be. For if our good works are “known only to God,” what’s the problem? You need to have your charity and your generosity celebrated in the newspaper Life section?
Virtue, it is said, is doing good when nobody can see you.
No comments:
Post a Comment