“In The Bob Hope Golf Classic (LWT) the participation of President Gerald Ford was more than enough to remind you that the nuclear button was at one stage at the disposal of a man who might have either pressed it by mistake or else pressed it deliberately in order to obtain room service.”
'Blinding white flash'
Essays and reviews, Glued to the Box (1983)
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Clive James 151
Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet, translator an… 1939–2019Related quotes
“Once I have refused to press that button because of Heinz, I can never press it.”
Source: Christopher and His Kind (1976), p. 335
Context: Suppose, Christopher now said to himself, I have a Nazi Army at my mercy. I can blow it up by pressing a button. The men in that Army are notorious for torturing and murdering civilians — all except for one of them, Heinz. Will I press the button? No — wait: Suppose I know that Heinz himself, out of cowardice or moral infection, has become as bad as they are and takes part in all their crimes? Will I press that button, even so? Christopher's answer, given without the slightest hesitation, was: Of course not.
That was a purely emotional reaction. But it helped Christopher think his way through to the next proposition. Suppose that Army goes into action and has just one casualty, Heinz himself. Will I press the button now and destroy his fellow criminals? No emotional reaction this time, but a clear answer, not to be evaded: Once I have refused to press that button because of Heinz, I can never press it. Because every man in that Army could be someone's Heinz and I have no right to play favorites. Thus Christopher was forced to recognize himself as a pacifist — although by an argument which he could only admit to with the greatest reluctance.
Source: Between Caesar and Jesus (1899), p. 26
“I'm Gerald Ford, and you're not.”
To the American people in a presumably comical address
1970s
Opening address to the National Day of Prayer in Suva, 15 May 2005 (excerpts) http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/page_4607.shtml
“Pressed into service means pressed out of shape.”
"The Self-seeker" (1914)
1910s
“He gave himself up to God and pressed the button.”
Source: Vorkosigan Saga, Falling Free (1988), Chapter 15 (p. 284)
Source: Books, Spiritual Warrior, Volume I: Uncovering Spiritual Truths in Psychic Phenomena (Hari-Nama Press, 1996), Chapter 4: Fire and Brimstone, Horns and Tail, p. 65
Source: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
Source: Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder