Our friend Len (with all respect) has somewhat of an 'idee fixe' about "Isra'El" and related subjects:
dictionary.reference.com
idee fixe \ee-day-FEEKS\, noun;
plural idees fixes \ee-day-FEEKS\:
An idea that dominates the mind; a fixed idea; an obsession.
The reality of obsession -- its incessant return to the same few themes, scenarios and questions; its meticulous examination and re-examination of banal minutiae for hidden meanings that simply aren't there; the cancerous way an idee fixe usurps other, more interesting thoughts -- is that it is confining, not rebellious, and not fascinating but maddeningly dull.
--Laura Miller, "The Streetwalkers of San Francisco," New York Times, August 20, 2000
[G]etting back to the idee fixe, let me say that it's what produces strong men and madmen.
--Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (trans. Gregory Rabassa)
Although Americans have an erroneous idee fixe that they are young and the rest of the world is old and wily, the Library of Congress is only a few decades junior to such venerable European institutions as the British Library and the Royal Library of the Netherlands.
--Nicholas von Hoffman, "A Birthday for the Books," Civilization, April 2000 |
