“It is impossible to progress without change, and those who do not change their minds [when confronted with the Truth] cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw
“Do not seek to placate individuals; do not dread the frowns of a sect; do not yield to the proscriptions of a Party; but pour out Truth into the common mind. Let the waters of intelligence, like the rains of heaven, descend on the whole earth. And be not discouraged by the dread of encountering ignorance. The prejudices of ignorance are more easily removed than the prejudices of Party interest; the first are blindly adopted, the second willfully preferred.
It is by infusing great Principles into the common mind that revolutions in human society are brought about.
The conflicts of Party are the war of Decay.
Absolute Power has never succeeded, and never can succeed, in suppressing a single Truth.” – George Bancroft, The Common Man in Art, Politics, and Religion, August 1835; Annals of America, Volume 6, p. 135
“The light of general education will as surely counteract the pernicious influence of secret, oath-bound, murderous institutions as the sun in heaven dispels the darkness and damp vapors of the night.
Instead of prophesying smooth things and flattering the people with the belief of their present perfection, and thus retarding the mind in its’ onward progress, it is the duty of [polemicists] to foster our cravings after knowledge and urge us forward in the march of the intellect.” – Thaddeus Stevens, Education as a Public Duty, April 1835; Annals of America, Volume 6, p. 139
“The free exercise of Public Opinion is a safeguard of Liberty. The communication of Truth should ever be viewed as eminently meritorious – not criminal. He who combats a pernicious error or destroys a dangerous falsehood may challenge a seat among the principal benefactors of mankind.
The empire of despotism is founded upon delusion and is wholly irreconcilable with the Liberty of political discussion.
Corruption considers Truth as her inveterate enemy; talents and virtues are regarded as her most formidable antagonists.
Nations can never benefit by deception. The remedy is in the extensive dissemination of Truth.
If any case can render the violence of revolution expedient, it is when all hope of redress has completely vanished. It must be when government authorities debar the mutual communication of opinion that is essential to Knowledge and Freedom.” – Tunis Wortman, Despotism and the Freedom of Political Discussion, 1800; Annals of America, Vol. 4; p. 131
“Loneliness does not come from having no people around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you.
Loneliness is rarely about empty rooms. It is about carrying words you cannot say and Truths you do not feel safe to share.
Healing is learning to speak what matters most to you so you are no longer alone with it.
This is the work of letting yourself be seen and known for who you really are.”
– Carl Jung
“The real danger is silence. Our belief that everything has already been said has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, where people are discouraged from speaking out at all.
But the intellectual space isn’t sustained by a handful of once-in-a-lifetime thinkers. It relies on continuous conversation. No one person can say it all and no one idea is ever truly complete.
The question isn’t whether something has already been said before, it’s whether it’s been said by you, right now, in this very moment.’ – Richard A. Posner, Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline, 2003; 464 pages.
“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be True. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the Light that I have. I must stand with anyone that stands for the Right, and stand with him while he is Right, and part with him when he goes Wrong.”
– Abraham Lincoln
“We live in an age in which personal moral idealism is easily accused of hypocrisy. It is an age in which honesty is possible only when it skirts the edges of cynicism. This is rather tragic. For what the individual conscience feels when it lifts itself above the world of nature is not a luxury but a necessity of the soul.
Justice cannot be approximated if the hope of its perfect realization does not generate a sublime madness in the soul. Nothing but such madness will do battle with malignant power and spiritual wickedness in high places.” – Reinhold Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics, 1932; 276 pages.
“Those who do not get angry about things they should be angry about are fools. They are fools who will accept anything. Such fools are not tolerant but merely weak and spineless.” – Aristotle, Ethica Nicomachea; 1126al-9
“It is the public intellectual’s job to be the bearer of bad tidings – not cynicism – but difficult Truths that cut across Party affiliation. It may put us at odds with those we would much rather be lined up in harmony with, and may give ammunition to those we would much prefer see disarmed.” – Jean Bethke Elshtain, Comments on the Public Intellectual, Nov. 2, 2000 (Posner, p. 386)
“Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.
And I believe, that in this generation, those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe.” – RFK.
“You are going to find that we live in a world in which international law has much less to do with actual Justice than international politics and money. A world in which those who have power often believe they are above the Truth.
My greatest hope is that a few of you…today, will actually serve as crusaders for Truth, Beauty, and Justice in the future. People like that are needed to create a better world for the next generation of humankind on this planet and to ensure the survival of our civilization.
Please believe in the power of One! One person can make an enormous difference in this world. One person, actually one idea, can start a war – or end one.
You as one individual can change millions of lives. So think BIG. Do not limit your vision and never compromise your dreams or ideals.” – Iris Chang (March 28, 1968 – November 9, 2004) In Memoriam
“The helpless longing to save men from the ruin towards which they are hastening makes it necessary to oppose the stream, to incur hostility, to be thought unfeeling, to lose for the moment the power of winning belief. It is impossible to prevent others from feeling hostile, but it is possible to avoid any reciprocal hostility on one’s own part.
Without understanding and sympathy, it is impossible to find a cure from which the world is suffering.” – Bertrand Russel, Why Men Fight; 1916, Chapter 1, The Principle of Growth.
“Well it’s all right
It doesn’t matter if
you’re old and gray.
Well it’s all right
You’ve still got
something to say.” – End of the Line by the Travelin’ Wibury’s
“There are certain facts which the public should have; and if I have to hand them to the public through the bars of a jail cell, it will not be the first time that has happened in history.” – Upton Sinclair, The Brass Check, 1908; p. 363
“The highest and primary task of a political writer is to understand and articulate the opinions of his fellow man about today’s problems and to assist in their adjustment from their perceptions to reality.” – Walter Lippman, Public Opinion, 1922; Intro.
“The darkest places in Hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” – Dante Alighieri, Inferno
“You ask me what forces me to speak? A strange thing; my conscience. Yet, if I speak I am condemned. If I stay silent I am damned!” – Victor Hugo
“The Individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the Tribe. To be your own man is hard business. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” – Rudyard Kipling
“Q. How long is it necessary to philosophise? A. Till our armies are no more commanded by fools.” – Crates; 365- 285 B.C. (Montaigne, Essays, p. 52)
“A man who is timid and afraid of speaking his mind should neither be considered a true friend, nor be regarded as a good citizen if he leaves the path of Truth because he is afraid of giving temporary offense to certain persons.” – Polybius, The Histories of Polybius, 264-146 BC, p. 593
“Be without fear in the face of your enemies, Be brave and upright that God may love thee, Speak the Truth always – even if it leads to your death, serve God and the helpless and do no wrong.” – Crusader Oath
“Criticism is more than a right – it is an act of patriotism – a higher form of patriotism than the familiar rituals of national adulation.” – J. William Fulbright, The Arrogance of Power, May 15, 1966; Annals Vol. 18, p. 362
The Man In the Arena
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” –President “Teddy” Roosevelt, April 23, 1910,
