7 de enero de 2015

Lo demás no importa nada (A)

1. By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes is his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion. LORD ACTON (1834-1902), The History of Freedom in Antiquity.

2. I would rather starve and rot and keep the privilege of speaking the truth as I see it, than of holding all the offices that capital has to give from the presidency down. HENRY BROOKS ADAMS (1848-1927), The Degradation of the Democratic Dogma, 1919.



3. The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing. JOHN ADAMS (1735-1826), U. S. President, 1765.

4. Be not intimidated…nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberties by any pretense of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery and cowardice. JOHN ADAMS (1732-1826), 1765.

5. Civil liberty can be established on no foundation of human reason which will not at the same time demonstrate the right of religious freedom. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS (1767-1848), U. S. President, Letter, 1823.

6. Driven from every other corner of the earth, freedom of thought and the right of private judgment in matters of conscience, direct their course to this happy country as their last asylum. SAM ADAMS (1722-1803), Speech, 1 August 1776.

7. Freedom is the emancipation from the arbitrary rule of other men. MORTIMER ADLER (1902-2001).

8. The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear. HERBERT SEBASTIEN AGAR (1897-1980), The Time for Greatness, 1942.

9. Mankind is at its best when it is most free. This will be clear if we grasp the principle of liberty. We must recall that the basic principle is freedom of choice, which saying many have on their lips but few in their mind. DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265-1321), Letters.

10. A free and open society is an ongoing conflict, interrupted periodically by compromises. SAUL ALINSKY (1909-1972), Rules for Radicals, 1971.

11. When a government takes over a people’s economic life it becomes absolute, and when it has become absolute it destroys the arts, the minds, the liberties and the meaning of the people it governs. MAXWELL ANDERSON (1888-1959), The Guaranteed Life.

12. If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share…in the government to the utmost. ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.) Politics, 343 B.C.

13. A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider godfearing and pious. ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.), Politics, 343 B.C.

14. It is a part of the function of “law” to give recognition to ideas representing the exact opposite of established conduct. Most of the complications arise from the necessity of pretending to do one thing, while actually doing another. THURMAN ARNOLD (1891-1969), The Symbols of Government, 1935.


15. Freedom of thought and freedom of speech in our great institutions are absolutely necessary for the preservation of our country. The moment either is restricted, liberty begins to wither and die…. JOHN PETER ATGELD (1847-1902), 1897.





4 comentarios:

raúl dijo...

En casi todas las declaraciones de gobernantes se repudia este atentado como un atentado contra la libertad de expresión. Se equivocan. Es un atentado de la barbarie contra la civilización. Si no se advierte esto con claridad, estamos perdidos.

Gus VF dijo...

Sine, lo terrible es que todas esas citas son INCOMPRENSIBLES PARA UN MUSULMÁN sencillamente porque como excelentemente observaba la gran Oriana Fallaci, la palabra LIBERTAD no existe en el vocabulario del islam; señalaba que cuando en cierta ocasión países de todo el mundo firmaron un acuerdo conjunto, y como entre los islámicos esa palabra no existía, tuvieron que inventar el eufemismo “no cárcel” para de algún modo referirse a ella y que pudieran firmar.

Esto, a mi modo de ver y creo que para todos los que comprendemos la importancia de las palabras como constitutivas de la construcción psíquica y social, la ausencia en este caso de la palabra LIBERTAD revela que las personas que provienen de culturas islámicas directamente DESCONOCEN EL CONCEPTO, y por lo tanto de vivirla en la realidad cotidiana.

Pero también y por desgracia Occidente, lenta pero inexorablemente parece estar olvidando el significado de esta palabra que fue primaria y esencial en su desarrollo histórico. Para bailar el tango hacen falta dos… la hijaputez islámica y la infinita boludez occidental post Mayo ’68 son la fórmula de la pólvora que estalló hoy en Francia.

Q.E.P.D a los héroes de Charlie Hebdo. Hoy también digo “Je suis Charlie”, pero con muchísima menos bolas, está claro.

Sine Metu dijo...

Gus, el problema no son los musulmanes, es que Occidente se olvidó de lo que era.

Gus VF dijo...

Sí, Sine, ambas cosas, aunque seguramente lo que le pasa a Occidente principalmente es culpa del propio Occidente: el que calla civilización, otorga barbarie.