Quotations: December 2004 Archives
"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people
for a purpose which is unattainable."
U.S. historian Howard Zinn
"COWARDICE. (noun) A charge often levelled by all-American types against those who stand up for their beliefs by refusing to fight in wars they find unconscionable, and who willingly go to prison or into exile in order to avoid violating their own consciences. These 'cowards' are to be contrasted with red-blooded, 'patriotic' youths who literally bend over, grab their ankles, submit to the government, fight in wars they do not understand (or disapprove of), and blindly obey orders to maim and to kill simply because they are ordered to do so—all to the howling approval of the all-American mob. This type of behavior is commonly termed 'courageous.'"
Chaz Bufe
"War paralyzes your courage and deadens the spirit of true manhood. It degrades and stupefies with the sense that you are not responsible, that 'tis not yours to think and reason why, but to do and die,' like the hundred thousand others doomed like yourself. War means blind obedience, unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction, and irresponsible murder."
Alexander Berkman
"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found a way to serve."
Albert Schweitzer
(1875-1965)
Humanitarian, Theologian, Philosopher, Physician, Nobel Peace Prize 1952
"I'm not from the East, not from the West - my place is placeless - a trace of traceless."
Jalaluddin Rumi
Prout Editor's note: Has anything changed since the time of Aristotle?
"A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side."
Aristotle
"Truth always rests with the minority, and the minority is always stronger than the majority, because the minority is generally formed by those who really have an opinion, while the strength of a majority is illusory, formed by the gangs who have no opinion -- and who, therefore, in the next instant (when it is evident that the minority is the stronger) assume its opinion ... while Truth again reverts to a new minority."
Soren Kierkegaard
(1813-1855) Danish philosopher
"We must not overlook the role that extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent."
Abraham Flexner
(1866-1959)
