Last week's quotation was, as many of you know, written by Raymond Chandler.
"...who is not himself mean" to me is the key element. He can be tough, even vicious, but this cannot stem from an essential meanness. Chandler, masterful in his word choice, would have been aware that claiming that somone is not mean stops short of claiming that he is nice or kind.
I very much enjoyed your various comments and perspectives. A slumming angel indeed. Please, please, please do not look up the quotations or Google them. It's far more interesting to hear your observations when they come from prior knowledge or guesswork.
Now, here's this week's quotation:
"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."
Have at it.
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6 comments:
Groucho Marx in his speech at the end of Duck Stew, the little known sequel to Duck Soup.
Now Do I get cookies?
Either Edmund Burke or Dante. I've seen that quote around in a number of different places, but it always bothered me. Like, for instance, on abortion. I'm pro-choice, but only mildly so. Am I going to hell? Fuck that. I'm pretty vehemently pro-war in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, but it strikes me there are a number of people who're pro-war and against the war who really haven't based their decision on all the facts. Take Cindy Sheehan, for instance. She's an idiot and has staked out a position pretty far on the left, arguing, for example, that we should end the occupation of New Orleans by American troops.
I think a special place should be reserved in hell for those who arrive at their opinions stupidly, and without all the information, not for those kind soulds who just don't give a shit, one way or the other. Otherwise, this country is just a nation of democrats and republicans, and not of independents who, I'm sure you'll agree, are far more interesting people.
This quote is right up there with "visualize whirled peas" for me.
The Edmund Burke line is something like, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing," which is another way of saying the same thing... I too think this is Dante, but I'm playing by the rules and not looking it up.
Fred, kind souls give a shit.
I have only seen the quote attributed to Dante and I was actually looking for a more definitive reference when I stumbled across this blog... seems like you have to be careful about these kind of quotes... take that one frequently attributed to Edmund Burke, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph..." it apparently does not appear in that form in any of his works or recorded speeches. Check out the wikipedia entry for Edmund Burke for references.
I think it is Dante, but a friend of mind argues vehemently that it is not a quote that can be directly found in any of his works and is actually a result of JFK's interpretation of Dante's works...
So who is right?
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