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A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at read more
A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.
For piety lies not in being often seen turning a veiled head to stones, nor in approaching every altar, nor read more
For piety lies not in being often seen turning a veiled head to stones, nor in approaching every altar, nor in lying prostrate...before the temples of the gods, nor in sprinkling altars with the blood of beasts...but rather in being able to look upon all things with a mind at peace.
The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often read more
The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often means the opposite.
It is appropriate here to recall that the so-called Dark Ages began with the flight of the individuals into the read more
It is appropriate here to recall that the so-called Dark Ages began with the flight of the individuals into the protection of lords or chapters and came to an end when the individual again found it to his advantage to set forth on his own. We live at a time when everything conspires to push the individual into the fold.
Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.
Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.
There exist limitless opportunities in every industry. Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.
There exist limitless opportunities in every industry. Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.
Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction read more
Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction having been given to publick opinion. This is the weak point of our defenses, and the part to which the enemies of the system will direct all their attacks. Opinion can be so perverted as to cause the false to seem the true; the enemy, a friend, and the friend, an enemy; the best interests of the nation to appear insignificant, and trifles of moment; in a word, the right the wrong, and the wrong the right.
In a society in which it is a moral offense to be different from your neighbor your only escape is read more
In a society in which it is a moral offense to be different from your neighbor your only escape is never to let them find out.
Morality, like other inputs into the social process, follows the law of diminishing returns- meaning ultimately, negative returns. People can read more
Morality, like other inputs into the social process, follows the law of diminishing returns- meaning ultimately, negative returns. People can be too moral.