Molly Ivins; "Anyone who held violent opinions could always be trusted,"

[A HERETIC I AM]

{from snip)

"To think of the future and wait was merely another way of saying one was a coward; any idea of moderation was just another attempt to disguise one's unmanly character; ability to understand the question from all sides meant that one was totally unfitted for action; fanatical enthusiasm was the mark of a real man. ... .Anyone who held violent opinions could always be trusted, and anyone who objected to them became a suspect."

The quote is from Thucydides, the Father of History, writing about the day in 415 B.C. when Athens sent its glorious fleet off to destruction in Sicily. I have not been re-reading Thucydides, but found the quote in a footnote in a splendid little book called "Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy" by Lewis Lapham, in my opinion the most incisive essayist in America.

http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=miv
Ya gotta love Molly!!

[artslave43]

1. Thucydidies and Lewis Lapham

Love Molly, and Lewis Lapham is a GOD!

[Hoping4Change]

2. Hey there artslave43. I am with you about Lapham .

He is brilliant. BTW welcome. Glad you're here.:hi:

[newyawker99]

5. Hi artslave43!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Larkspur]

3. There are some in the Democratic Party who fit this description

Anti-Iraq war Kucinich delegates got a taste of squelching dissent at the Dem Convention, I read.

[lanparty]

4. What, no mention of Socrates ????

Socrates was sentenced to death for accurately predicting that him government was making decisions that would lead to tragedy. He had a choice to recant, but he chose the poison instead.