Midweek Quote
Someone posted this to a washingtonpost.com chat yesterday and I just had to share it. Particularly appropriate given last night's speech:
"I believe that the community is already in process of dissolution where each man begins to eye his neighbor as a possible enemy, where non-conformity with the accepted creed, political as well as religious, is a mark of disaffection; where denunciation, without specification or backing, takes the place of evidence, where orthodoxy chokes freedom of dissent; where faith in the eventual supremacy of reason has become so timid that we dare not enter our convictions in the open lists, to win or lose."
-- Judge Learned Hand, 1872-1961
4 comments:
Wow.
What was this quote originally in response to? It would be nice to know the historical context. Did it mention it?
I've been doing some reading about the Roman Republic lately. They had 500 years of dominance; 200 of which were peaceful. Makes me wonder about our own country: are we going the way of Rome?
My very limited research into this quote reveals that it was made during the era of McCarthy's "Red Scare" and HUAAC jingoism.
Interesting theory re: Rome. I hven't given much thought to the Roman Empire since, oh, the ninth grade, so I'll defer to your insights on it until such time as something in my cobweb-filled mind gets triggered. :)
ha! sorry that probably sounded really dorky of me, didn't it?
I'm taking a required Art History course as part of my masters program. We're talking about Roman stuff right now, and it's just been on my mind!
LOL!
W only has a 45 percent approval rating at the moment- it's high time the conservatives realize that the Iraq War is unwinable, and that we haven't been given clear, honest answers.
And the astronomical deficit isn't helping, either!
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