A learned man like Michael Ignatieff might have understood and taken that lesson to heart, and thereby saved himself, his family, perhaps even the country, some grief.
The theme of Ignatieff ’s new book Fire and Ashes is hubris (actually the title of chapter one), a Greek derivative perhaps best defined as overweening ambition. Ignatieff writes:
“One night in October 2004, three men we had never met before — and whom we later called ‘the men in black’ — arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to take my wife… and me out to dinner… After a drink or two (Alfred) Apps came to the point: Would I consider returning to Canada and running for the Liberal Party? … What the men in black were proposing was incredible. . . When the meal ended and they headed back to Toronto, I said merely that I would think about it.”
Digital Columnists
The article you have requested is only available to subscribers of the Catholic Register.
There are two ways to read this article.
1. Subscribe to our digital edition and read the complete newspaper, plus additional features, on your PC, laptop or tablet. Subscription rates start at just $3.99.
2. Subscribe to our weekly newspaper and have the print edition delivered right to you door each week.