A few weeks ago, when Kissinger died, someone related an anecdote that put me in mind, again, of maybe my favorite political quip ever. Bob Dole was at some event with a congressional colleague. As they headed to their seats, they passed by the dais on which were seated all the living former presidents—at the time, Ford, Carter, and Nixon. "Look," said Dole to his companion, "it's See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and Evil."
The writer Gore Vidal is the star of the Kissinger anecdote. He was with a friend in the Sistine Chapel, taking in the stupendous works of Renaissance religious painting, when the friend suddenly noticed Henry Kissinger thoughtfully contemplating the section of Michelangelo's Last Judgement that depicts the damned descending into Hell. The friend was stunned to see Kissinger and breathlessly pointed him out to Vidal, who said, "Yes, looks like he's apartment hunting."
Wouldn't be surprised if both are apocryphal but, if so, I don't want to know. Neither is too Christmassy so here is a link to a Christmas poem, T.S. Eliot's "Journey of the Magi."
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