On this site I will post, from time to time, some statements from past and contemporary thinkers who appeal to me personally and represent my core values.
Thomas Jefferson, in his letter to Judge James Sullivan, May 21, 1805, said:
“I certainly have known, and still know, characters eminently qualified for the most exalted trusts, who could not bear up against the brutal hackings and hewings of these heroes of Billingsgate. . . .If we suffer ourselves to be frightened from our post by mere lying, surely the enemy will use that weapon, for what one so cheap to those of whose system of politics morality makes no part. The patriot, like the Christian, must learn that to bear revilings and persecutions is a part of his duty; and in proportion as the trial is severe, firmness under it becomes more requisite and praiseworthy. It requires, indeed, self-command.” (The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, XI [Washington, D.C.: The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1905), 73.
In his letter to J. B. Colvin, Sept. 20, 1810, Jefferson states:
“A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means.” (XII, 418).
Friedrich Hölderlin (March 20, 1770 – June 6, 1843):
“Was den Staat auf Erden zur Hölle macht, war schon immer der Menschheits Versuch, ihn in ein Paradies zu verwandeln.”
“What has always made the State a hell on earth has been precisely mankind’s attempt to turn it into a paradise.”
Zum Thema “Zuhoeren“
Dom Hélder Câmara: Quando dava comida aos pobres, me chamavam de santo. Quando perguntava por que os pobres nada tinham para comer, me chamavam de comunista.
When I gave food to the poor, they called me a saint. When I asked why the poor have nothing to eat, they called me a communist.
Henri David Thoreau: That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest
Oscar Wilde: People are divided into two groups – the righteous and the unrighteous – and the righteous do the dividing.
E. H. Chapin: never does the human soul appear so strong as when it forgoes revenge, and dares to forgive an injury
Victor Hugo: mourir n’est rien; ne pas vivre est terrifiant
Mahatma Gandhi:
in matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place
Arne Garborg (1851-1924): For money you can have everything it is said. – No that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health, soft beds, but not sleep, knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort, fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honour; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money
Rosa Luxemburg: Die Freiheit ist immer nur die Freiheit der Andersdenkenden