Laudator Temporis Acti

Excerpts from Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), Brideshead Revisited:

I.iv (conversation between Sebastian Flyte and Charles Ryder):

'I wish I liked Catholics more.'
'They seem just like other people.'
'My dear Charles, that's exactly what they're not — particularly in this country, where they're so few. It's not just that they're a clique — as a matter of fact, they're at least four cliques all blackguarding each other half the time — but they've got an entirely different outlook on life; everything they think important is different from other people. They try and hide it as much as they can, but it comes out all the time.'

II.i (conversation between Cordelia Flyte and Charles Ryder):

'Charles,' said Cordelia, 'Modern Art is all bosh, isn't it?'
'Great bosh.'

II.ii (Father Mowbray speaking):

'The trouble with modern education is you never know how ignorant people are. With anyone over fifty you can be fairly confident what's been taught and what's been left out. But these young people have such an intelligent, knowledgeable surface, and then the crust suddenly breaks and you look down into depths of confusion you didn't know existed.'