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Wit & Wisdom

"By the time a man realises that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he is wrong." Clergyman Charles Wadsworth, quoted on The Knowledge 

"The only known cure for presidential ambition is embalming fluid." Attrib. Morris Udall, quoted in The Times 

"I always have a quotation for everything – it saves original thinking." Dorothy L. Sayers, quoted in The Knowledge 

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"The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves, which make us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them we are missing." Attrib. President Gamal Abdel Nasser, quoted in the Los Angeles Times 

"Any company that has an economist has one employee too many." Warren Buffett, quoted on GuruFocus 

"Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause." Voltaire, quoted in Forbes 

"How do I know what I think until I see what I say?" E.M. Forster, quoted on Medium

"No man is happy but by comparison." Thomas Shadwell, quoted on CNBC

Good week for...

The King and Queen, who received a warm welcome on their state visit to France. On a walkabout in Paris, Charles and Camilla were greeted by crowds of well-wishers, and shouts of "Vive le Roi!". Libèration dedicated its front page to "Charly in Paris". Later, the couple moved on to Bordeaux, where they toured a local winery. One struggling small-scale vintner said that French news footage of Charles sampling her organic wine had led to such a torrent of orders that it had saved her business. 

Budget-conscious brides, with news that Sainsbury's is launching its own bridal collection, under its Tu label. The collection includes a sleeveless white dress that costs just £22.

Bad week for...

Laurence Fox, who was suspended from GB News for refusing to retract his "unacceptable" comments about a female journalist. During a BBC discussion about men's mental health, Ava Evans had said that she didn't think there was a need for a minister for men and that calls for one fed into the culture war. Talking to GB News's Dan Wootton, Fox described her as a "pathetic" feminist that no "self-respecting man" would "climb into bed with, ever". Ending his tirade, he asked: "Who'd want to shag that?" 

Donald Trump, after a New York judge ruled that he had committed fraud by massively (and repeatedly) exaggerating the value of his holdings to banks, insurers and others, to get better deals. Among other things, he'd claimed his penthouse in Trump Tower was three times its actual size. The summary judgment relates to a $250m civil fraud case that is due to begin next week.

Poll watch

32% of people in the top quarter of household incomes (earning more than £40,000 a year) identify as working class, according to the latest British Social Attitudes Survey. However, in the poorest households (earning less than £19,000), 48% identify as middle class, or say they have no class identity. 77% of Britons think that class adversely affects social mobility, up from 66% in 2012 and 70% in 1983. 

The survey, conducted last year, reveals that only 9% of adults now think that same-sex relationships are "always wrong", down from 50% in 1983. But the proportion who say they are "not prejudiced" towards transgender people fell to 64% last year, from 82% in 2019. Among 18- to 34-yearolds, the "not prejudiced" figure was 69%. Daily Telegraph/Guardian

Spirit of the age

John Bercow is to become the latest prominent former politician to move into reality TV, following on from George Galloway, Ed Balls, Matt Hancock, Ann Widdecombe and others. The former speaker of the Commons is reportedly slated to appear in the second season of "The Traitors US", alongside stars of "Big Brother" and "RuPaul's Drag Race". Bercow resigned as speaker in 2019; and last year a report concluded that he had "repeatedly and extensively" bullied Commons staff. 

Spotify has used AI to clone the voices of some of its top podcasters, so that they can appear to be presenting their podcasts in other languages. The firm said the "Voice Translation" option would make the listener experience more "authentic".

Statistics of the week

Between 2006, when satellite monitoring began, and 2011, no large wildfires were recorded in the UK. Since then, 599 have been recorded. The Guardian 

Owing to the vast range of options at Starbucks in the US (from cup size to type of milk to toppings), there are 383 billion different ways of ordering a caffè latte. Bloomberg Businessweek

Farewell

Gloria Coates, composer whose works were partly inspired by her work as a postwar guide at Dachau, died 19 August, aged 89. 

John Marshall, drummer in Soft Machine, died 16 September, aged 82. 

David McCallum, actor best known for "The Great Escape", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "NCIS", died 25 September, aged 90. 

Giorgio Napolitano, modern Italy’s longest-serving president, died 22 September, aged 98.