That, it is not too pompous to say, would in the long run be a marvellous advance in the human condition.In the immediate press of events, however, the moral calculation often pushes the other way.
But he has been a genuine and genuinely fiery moral leader, if that doesn't sound too pompous — on torture, on Iran, and on Palin, to name three topics of more than trivial interest.
It's all part of the same attempt to understand the world and act in it, if that doesn't sound too pompous.
Wiggins slumped to a disappointing 24th and he and his boss, Dave Brailsford, conceded that Team Sky had been too pompous in a race as unforgiving as the Tour de France.
Is it too pompous to say that those with talent have a duty to use that talent?
Moreover, here is a French author who isn't too pompous, yet with just enough pretentiousness to remind the audience that the action takes place in Paris, and who can also squeeze elevated thoughts about death and sex between the jokes.
"Without sounding too pompous, I think Vogue India opened people's eyes to the fact that Indian girls can be amazing," she explains.
"It sounds to us too pompous and too archaic," he explained, "so we just use the future".
Most of the concert was far flatter, and either too pompous or too precious.
When journalists do think they are on a par with policymakers, they risk getting above themselves and becoming too pompous.
