As I pored over these observations on tyranny, I thought each of these men and women could have easily been speaking of Stephen Harper.
“Rebellion to tyranny is obedience to God.” - Thomas Jefferson
“In reality, though, the first thing to ask of history is that it should point
out to us the paths of liberty. The great lesson to draw from revolutions is
not that they devour humanity but rather that tyranny never fails to generate
them.” - Pierre Trudeau
“The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.” - Lord Acton
“When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty.” - Thomas Jefferson
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” - Samuel Adams
“When one with honeyed words but evil mind
Persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.” - Euripedes
“Those who are capable of tyranny are capable of perjury to sustain it.” - Lysander Spooner
“The wisest thing in the world is to cry out before you are hurt. It is no good to cry out after you are hurt; especially after you are mortally hurt. People talk about the impatience of the populace; but sound historians know that most tyrannies have been possible because men moved too late. it is often essential to resist a tyranny before it exists.” - G.K. Chesterton
“For somehow this is tyranny's disease, to trust no friends.” - Aeschylus
“Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and opressions of the body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.” - Thomas Jefferson
“A city which belongs to just one man is no true city” - Sophocles
“Experience hath shown, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” - Thomas Jefferson
“We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed.” - Thomas Jefferson
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| Photo by Joe the Lion |
“No one man can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices.” Edward R. Murrow
“Today the aggressor is the shepherd of peace, and the beaten and hunted are the troublemakers of the world. What's more, there are whole races who believe it!” - Erich Maria Remarque
“The idea which tyrants find most useful is the idea of God.” - Stendhal
“Silent acquiescence in the face of tyranny is no better than outright agreement.” - C.J. Redwine
8 comments:
Great quotes and Harper is the epitome, Mound.
I should add that 'Harper is epitome of anti-democracy'.
Great post.
Harper has been a litany of lies, deceit, thefts, corruption, dirty politics dirty tactics and he cheats to win. Harper is even destroying books, as another dictator did.
The fair election act? Hahahaha. Harper has all of his ducks in a row, to cheat this next election too.
Name me one dictator, that ever permitted democracy? Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini certainly never permitted democracy. All dictators are control freaks and have very similar characteristics.
Once you know of Harper's very shady earlier political days? Harper is pathetically easy to see through.
Expect the worst because, worst is all we will get from Herr Harper.
I was looking for a compilation, a profile of the great people who've made a difference through-out history and I found a site...LiberalLikeChrist.org. Pages and pages of essay--facts, quotes, links, lists, charts and proof to me--that from Aristotle and Plato, to Bertrand Russell and John Stuart Mill, and from Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King to Pierre Elliot Trudeau and Tommy Douglas, that Liberals--like Christ--believe in and uphold the same principles. Liberals--like Christ--lead by bringing out the best in people, which is the best for all people. Conservatives lead (?) by bringing out the worst instincts in people which are to divide, deceive, debase and destroy. It's a clear indication to me who the vipers really are and are not.I know you read a lot and wondered if you could take a look at the site and let me know what you think? Thanks and have a great day!
Also, the arguments haven't changed, only the expression of them has...
Yes I think that liberalism, generally speaking, espouses secular ideals akin to many of the teachings we attribute to Christ.
Today's hard conservatism is definitely more rooted in the Old Testament than the New. That is why a group in the States, the Conservative Bible Project, is working on their own version of the New Testament 'cleansed' of what they perceive to be the 'liberal' interpretations embodied in the King James version. They claim to be true believers of Jesus but just want his words tweaked to reflect their values. You can Google that.
Yes I think that liberalism, generally speaking, espouses secular ideals akin to many of the teachings we attribute to Christ.
Today's hard conservatism is definitely more rooted in the Old Testament than the New. That is why a group in the States, the Conservative Bible Project, is working on their own version of the New Testament 'cleansed' of what they perceive to be the 'liberal' interpretations embodied in the King James version. They claim to be true believers of Jesus but just want his words tweaked to reflect their values. You can Google that.
Thanks. They've been trying to rewrite history from the beginning. The old testament book of Psalms gives many examples of Solomon's prayers for the poor and oppressed, the fatherless, widows and prisoners.
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