That may sound like a deeply cynical proposition, but it more than explains the great heights of enthusiasm to which Herbert could rise, as a writer and critic, when he found an example of equitable architecture.
The biggest celebrity present was the candidate himself: Fernando Poe Junior, Da Kingg" of Philippine cinema and the man to beat in the presidential election on May 10th.Filipinos are also used to voting for film stars, but Mr Poe provokes new heights of enthusiasm.
Palm went public on March 2, at the height of investor enthusiasm for many technology stocks, with 3Com selling a small part of its stake to the public.
On both sides the war produced heights of national enthusiasm of a type that marked the era and culminated in frenetic British celebrations after the relief of the Siege of Mafeking in May 1900.
Then there's Spotify's list of "Countries with the biggest Elvis fans" -- with no indication of whether that's a measure of enthusiasm, height and/or weight.
Both Ireland, which exited its bail-out programme in December, and Portugal, which hopes to follow suit later this year, have raised pots of money from the markets this week at interest rates they could scarcely have dreamt possible at the height of the crisis.Such enthusiasm for these once shunned members of the currency club contrasts sharply with the still sickly economy of the euro zone.
Later Ginsberg called the Mantra-Rock Dance "the height of Haight-Ashbury spiritual enthusiasm, the first time that there had been a music scene in San Francisco where everybody could be part of it and participate," while historians referred to it as "the ultimate high" and "the major spiritual event of the San Francisco hippy era".
I expected plenty of enthusiasm.
"Youth orchestras are full of enthusiasm.
I must have looked equally troubled when, in a burst of enthusiasm, my friend signed us up for a guided hike into the Grand Canyon (forget his arachnophobia; my fear is heights!).
