Benjamin Franklin declared the sun on the back of President Washington's chair to be rising. I wonder now if it is setting. Some nuggets of wisdom from G.K.Chesterton:
On ethics: "We are learning to do a great many clever things. The next thing we are going to have to learn is not to do them."
On morality: "The next great heresy is going to be simply an attack on morality: and especially on sexual morality. The madness of tomorrow is not in Moscow but much more in Manhattan."
On nationalism: "There are three stages in the life of a strong people. First, it is a small power, and fights small powers. Then it is a great power, and fights great powers. Then it is a great power, and fights small powers, but pretends that they are great powers, in order to rekindle the ashes of its ancient emotion and vanity."
Related to the last point:
Where Does Iraq Stand Among U.S. Wars?
Total Casualties Compare to Spanish-American, Mexican and 1812 Conflicts
By Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 31, 2004; Page A16
"With more than 800 U.S. military personnel killed and more than 4,600 wounded, U.S. casualties in Iraq over the past 14 months now compare to those of several of the smaller wars in the nation's history."
Funky Dung
Comments 2
I haven't been reading your weblog for too long, so I was wondering if you've been posting Chesterton quotes for long, or is it just a recent
happening? Anyway, I think they're great quotes, and startling in their relevance.
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Posted 31 May 2004 at 1:42 am ¶It's a recent thing. I've only read two Chesterton books so far, Orthodoxy and Heretics. What's happened lately is that I'll find a great bit of wisdom in one of the those books, Google it (for easy copy and paste), and end up finding other good quotes along the way. There's a reason he's been called the Apostle of Common Sense.
BTW, I got interested in Chesterton by way of C.S. Lewis, who I've been a fan of since childhood.
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Posted 31 May 2004 at 9:01 pm ¶Post a Comment