Video Meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor

Touchstone's S.M. Hutchens on William F. Buckley:

This is a man I find difficult to reproach for finding himself interesting—not only since I do, too, but because if the distance between self-absorption and self-appreciation can be measured by intensity of charitable regard for others, Buckley (my thoughts advert here to contraries like Pepys or de Sade) dresses out remarkably well. If love covers a multitude of sins, let us allow that vanity is one of them, not because it excuses, but transforms.

Buckley was a huge influence on me growing up. Loved his Blackford Oakes novels, and I was dense enough not to notice any vanity in something like Overdrive. It's sort of like what Tom of Disputations once said about himself: "what's not to love?; what's not to love about Buckley?