Most of the intellectual elite of this country, in fact, completely disavow the idea of absolute truth.

We have a year or two at most to rescue the concept of an intellectual elite from egalitarian opprobrium.

For the next three decades it had no more than 300 members and focused on publishing pamphlets and debating within the country's intellectual elite.

One discussion forum on an internet site that was aimed at the country's intellectual elite had to be shut down amid a tide of insults.

That nurturing of the intellectual elite will produce greater long-term rewards than pumping wasted millions into third-rate universities.