On the Spirit of the Times. I bet Waldo Emerson is turning in his grave. "But the mind, once prepared for the reign of principles, will easily find modes of expressing its will. There is the highest fitness in the place and time in which this enterprise is begun. Not in an obscure corner, not in a feudal Europe, not in an antiquated appanage where no onward step can be taken without rebellion, is this seed of benevolence laid in the furrow, with tears of hope; but in this broad America of God and man, where the forest is only now falling, or yet to fall, and the green earth opened to the inundation of emigrant men from all quarters of oppression and guilt; here, where not a family, not a few men, but mankind, shall say what shall be; here, we ask, Shall it be War, or shall it be Peace?" He had high hopes for our nation. What a disappointment we have been.
Since WWII we have been at war. Only one president never fired a missile or drop a bomb, he went on to become a great humanitarian with a cultivated soul that inspires the world. Jimmy Carter is not just a good man but also a great human being!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2012 Republican Presidential Candidates

Are you excited about the GOP presidential candidates? I don’t know about you, but I am not . You’ve got the Just-For-Men Mitt and the born-again-christian Texan (we’ve seen that movie before) who says we must not appease the Palestinians (he means the Nazis) and neckless Newt  and the very black guy (forgot his name) who wants to replace the not so very black guy, and the old doc who’s been in politics for a while but hasn’t cured a patient yet and wants to abolish the government, and Michelle who lives few miles down the road from me (and wouldn’t  it be nice to have a pretty gal president from MN, eh? but not Michelle, oh god no, not Michelle), and some others whom I don’t care about - and now they’re thinking about bringing in the model from NJ (at least the ladies might find him more appealing than neckless Newt, I don’t know). … After all, Michelle,  a terrific lady, may not need start packing.
Read more

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Image
The original Walter Mitty was created by humorist Thurber, who wrote the famous story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." In Walter's real life, he is a reticent, henpecked proofreader befuddled by everyday life. But in his fantasies, Walter imagines himself as various daring and heroic characters. Thurber's popular story, which was first published in the New Yorker in 1939, was later made into a movie. Walter Mitty has since become the eponym for dreamers who imagine themselves in dramatic or heroic situations. Every family has a Walter Mitty, I know mine has two - does yours?
Read more

System of Nature - Preface

"Truth speaks not to those perverse beings:--her voice can only be heard by generous souls accustomed to reflection, whose sensibilities make them lament the numberless calamities showered on the earth by political and religious tyranny--whose enlightened minds contemplate with horror the immensity, the ponderosity of that series of misfortunes which error has in all ages overwhelmed mankind. To error must be attributed those insupportable chains which tyrants, which priests have forged for most nations. To error must be equally attributed that abject slavery into which the people of almost every country have fallen. Nature designed they should pursue their happiness and by the most perfect freedom.--To error must be attributed those religious terrors which, almost every climate, have either petrified man with fear, or caused him to destroy himself for coarse or fanciful beings.  To error must be attributed those  inveterate hatreds, those barbarous persecutions, those num...
Read more