Jellyfish are not confined to university

[Trevor-Roper] begins by explaining that “in this university, as in all institutions (see the Bible passim) there is a Party of Light” (to which, naturally, Trevor-Roper belongs) and a Party of Darkness (those who hold different views). Fortunately, he included me in the Party of Light. We see a university “as a place of learning and pleasure”; the Party of Darkness sees it as a place of administrative efficiency. Darkness has been spreading since Trevor-Roper’s death.

There is also a third party, which Trevor-Roper describes as the Jellies - the Jellyfish, or party of compromise. They are “distinguished by the complete absence of any views”. They have, however, two important qualities. “First, though sometimes submerged, they never sink. Secondly, though unable to control their movements, some of them can, if touched, sting.”
- Robin Lane Fox, Across Enemy Lines, a review of Letters From Oxford: Hugh Trevor-Roper to Bernard Berenson.

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