" To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he's doing is good... Ideology - that is what gives devildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination. That is the social theory which helps to make his acts seem good instead of bad in his own and others' eyes, so that he won't hear reproaches and curses but will receive praise and honors. "Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
" Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph."Haile Selassie
" When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."Edmund Burke
Monday, 1 September 2008
Quote of the day
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4 comments:
Those three quotes cancel themselves out.
Everybody (except hardened criminals) believe that are doing What's Best. Does that mean that anybody who believes in what they are doing is evil? Proper mass evil is perpetrated by groups, not individuals, but how do Good Men know that they are associating with Other Good men for The Greater Good, rather than with Dogooders who make things worse?
etc.
Well how can I comment after that one.
Welcome back anyway.
Mark. Thanks for your comment. You make some good points.
#1 Certainly I expect even Hitler justified what he was doing to himself. You can bet those who murdered all those people in the planes and the WTC, or the London Tube did too. I am sure, like many other evil murderers, they convinced themselves they were doing it for God.
#2 Is more concerned with the creeping evil that keeps taking another step and another step, like the apocryphal frog in hot water. It says that those who will not be counted permit evil. As in, for evil to triumph it is only necessary that good men do nothing.
#3 Says that if people band together against you then you need some numbers too, only practical really. This could be more a case of perspective as to exactly what is bad.
These three do not cancel though.
JMB, Thank you. I am not optimistic I will be all that active for the moment though. It was simply that I was surprised just how much time had passed since I last posted.
Maybe I ought to co-opt another contributor ;-)
Mark/Stainless, Reading #3 Burke's good guys are responding to the bad guys ganging up. So I guess the white hats are only reacting to defend themselves from aggression.
So the secons ones are more likely to be the good guys. Yes?
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