Quotes To Live By

Estimates of the total number killed by the Nazis are considerably higher than just the six million Jews

We must not focus on fascism or forget evil communists @Peter_Goble https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor, and in fairness history is littered with genocidal acts some; tribal, rascist, political. Not much was done to intervene in the Rwandan genocide despite the wests rapid deployment capabilities. Genocide did not stop with the Holocaust. Though the scale might differ it’s essentially people killing other people.

Agreed in principle, Your Grace. It’s just that in recent European history it is fascist states that have engineered world war in Europe. Those are the wars with which I am peronally most closely acquainted, though not directly as a combatant.

Let’s not get into a little local fascism in South Africa, Kenya, and the Rhodesias, where Heinrich Himmler’s methods of progressive dehumanisation were adapted to the destruction of local populations, with open support from consecutive UK governments. Ah, well! :uk::thinking::relaxed:

Yes but they are the ones as Peter says tacked on in the paragraph I quoted from the die Zeit article.

Absolutely we must all remove the blinkers as “in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king” in an effort to get back on track with the thread :slight_smile:

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It was a kinda philosophical thread about values, so I suppose that must give a kinda licence to chew over matters of war and peace, love and hatred, right and wrong etc.

But it can get a bit torrid, I agree. :scream::joy:

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Getting back on thread…

"Before you speak… let your words pass through three gates:

Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind? "

(seems sound advice to me)

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"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step"

Lao Tzu

Lao%20Tzu

"Believe you can and you’re halfway there."

Theodore Roosevelt

Beware the quiet man. For while others speak he watches. And while others act he plans. And when they finally rest… he strikes” -

Anonymous

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Sounds like one should not beware the quiet man but be the quiet man.

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What a very short memory you have Paul.
The dreaded IDS called himself the quiet man and look at the havoc he has wreaked with his so called ‘Reforms’.
He was not above lying to fudge the figures and call France a ‘warm’ country to steal our Winter Fuel Payment.
He is, of course, a prominent member of the European Ruination Group.

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‘Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others’

OK, IDS did describe himself as “a quiet man” - at least by implication when he said “do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man”. At the time he was trying put some positive spin on the fact that he had a low profile (and not much charisma).

But as a maxim to live by, careful consideration before acting does not seem to be a bad one.

My old boss in the UK had this favourite which I’ve tried to emulate when negotiating with clients -

‘always keep your powder dry’

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Don’t shoot until you can see the whites of their eyes.

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Reminds me of a snake. Snakes strike out of mortal fear for their own survival. In that sense, beware, the snake will strike at you, not because you threaten it, but because it has a very small, primitive brain, and moves stealthily and in perpetual fear of discovery.

Poor snakes, they get a bad press and people don’t react rationally to them at all.

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I have a soft spot for snakes myself. Beautiful creatures, much maligned and misunderstood, they can’t help their nervous disposition, but their self-protective reflex can be deadly and swift.

Whatever the reason may be, the human response seems to me to be proportionate to the risk of death, and seems innate where snakes are both common and highly dangerous to life if disturbed accidentally.

Look before you Leap or Carpe Diem.