Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
Aaron Miller ·
June 17, 2012 at 5:00pm
"... let him so temper all things, that the strong may have something to strive after, and the weak nothing at which to take alarm." —St. Benedict
Your turn.
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Dec '11
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
Proverbs 17:28 (NCV)
I would add more but I want to seem wise.:-)
Apr '12
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
From my Desi side - quotes from the Mahabharat:
"When shown the door, take the door, and put no trust in kings"
" I do not blame you, Maharaja, for hitting an innocent man. For, cruelty comes quick to the powerful."
"The intoxication with power is worse than drunkeness with liquor and such, for who is drunk with power does not come to his senses before he falls."
"Once war has been undertaken, no peace is made by pretending there is no war"
"Without doubt, all kings, O son, must once see Hell."
"He is a fool that practises truth without knowing the difference between truth and falsehood."
-- Krishna to Arjuna
Apr '12
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
From Rules for Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky
May '12
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
tabula rasa: Irish proverb: "That which hurts teaches." At least it should.
I'm unconvinced that the Democrats have learned a single thing about the perils of debt. · 17 hours ago
The democrats don't own the debt although I think they shoulder 51% of the blame. The other 49% rests squarely on the shoulders of big government statist 'conservatives' better known as republicans.
Apr '12
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
"Neither a lender nor a borrower be." --Poloniusin Hamlet by Shakespeare
Oct '10
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
[T]o demand equality of rights, as the socialists ... do, is never an emanation of justice but of greed.
If one holds up bleeding chunks of meat up to an animal and takes them away again until it finally roars, do you think this roaring has anything to do with justice?
--Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human
May '11
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
"Liberty is such a precious thing that sometimes it must be rationed."-Lenin
May '11
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
"Intelligentzia yest govno." -also Lenin
Mar '11
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
There's a great deal from the classical world that our leaders could profit from reading, which is why I would advocate for a liberal education for them which emphasizes the great authors (not because these authors belong to some approved canon, but because they are the best and have written the best books).
But, being realistic, and knowing that taste is often more important than the ability to reconstruct an argument, my practical advice in forming their taste would be to return Plutarch to the curriculum. His work is an excellent counter-force to the school of 'historical forces' which so predominates today and which effects democratic polities in all ages. Plutarch's models helped form the moral imaginations of busy young statesmen for many ages, including our founders.
Apr '12
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
Larry Koler: "For all problems of existence are essentially problems of harmony."
-Sri Aurobindo (Indian Nationalist and Philosopher) · 2 hours ago
Some years ago I discovered the definition of overcrowding: Living with people you don't like.
May '10
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
"It is one thing to wish to have truth on our side, and another thing to wish sincerely to be on the side of truth." -- Richard Whatley; philosopher, economist, and Anglican bishop
"When the socialist says 'Fair Shares for All,' what he really means is equal shares for all. Equal shares for those who toil and those that shirk. Equal shares for those that save and those that squander. No reward offered for the skilled. No incentive for the industrious or experienced. No reward for ingenuity, thrift or good housekeeping. What the socialist means is EQUAL shares for all” - Winston Churchill
“The lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit… It is in violation of the traditions of America.” -- Franklin Roosevelt, to Congress in 1935.
"If no set of moral ideas were truer or better than any other there would be no sense in preferring civilized morality to savage morality or Christian morality to Nazi morality." -- CS Lewis
Aug '10
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
Aaron Miller
I, personally, would not want to give a politician this advice.
Our weaknesses can and should alarm us, and there is little the government can or should do about many of them. If the government literally tempered all things so that we had absolutely nothing to be alarmed about in weakness, there'd be less pressure for us to do something about our own weaknesses when we can.
Likewise, I would not want to tell a politician that his goal should be to govern in order to give the strong something to strive after. This causes me to envision massive public works projects, whether they're necessary or not, simply to give the "strong" some "striving" to do.
I admit, though, that the quote might make more sense in context and with a deeper knowledge of St Benedict's life than I currently have.
Aug '10
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
Fred Cole:
A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them. – P. J. O'Rourke
Truly excellent.
What makes it so good is that it's also honest about the role chance plays in our lives, for a change.
Dec '10
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
Dec '10
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
-- Kevin Williamson, Welcome to the Machine
And a tip-o-the-hat to whoever the Rico Master was who cited this article. Essential reading for people seeking elective office.
Jun '11
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
Crow's Nest: There's a great deal from the classical world that our leaders could profit from reading, which is why I would advocate for a liberal education for them which emphasizes the great authors (not because these authors belong to some approved canon, but because they are the best and have written the best books).
But, being realistic, and knowing that taste is often more important than the ability to reconstruct an argument, my practical advice in forming their taste would be to return Plutarch to the curriculum. His work is an excellent counter-force to the school of 'historical forces' which so predominates today and which effects democratic polities in all ages. Plutarch's models helped form the moral imaginations of busy young statesmen for many ages, including our founders. · 3 hours ago
Kind of helped Shakespeare out too if I correctly recall.
Nov '10
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
"The more I think about it ol' Willie was right / Let's kill all the lawyers, kill 'em tonight" -The Eagles, Get Over It
"‘Democracy’ – as in a polling station and ballot box – is the last piece of liberty’s puzzle. What comes first are property rights, legal systems, freedom of speech and of conscience, a civil society rather than a tribal one. Absent those, the ‘cultural thing’ will out." -Mark Steyn
"Science is a subset of rationality; the former has a narrower scope than the latter. To ignore rationality when it does fall beyond the scientific enterprise would be an injustice to both reason and humanity." -Robert J. Asher
"I see … some successful even beyond their wildest dreams – and others congratulating them for their achievement, not attacking them for it." -Mitt Romney
Nov '10
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
"Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen, for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought. But, if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true? It’s like upsetting a milk jug and hoping that the way it splashes itself will give you a map of London. But if I can’t trust my own thinking, of course I can’t trust the arguments leading to Atheism, and therefore have no reason to be an Atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I cannot believe in thought: so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God." -CS Lewis
"The name of peace is sweet, and the thing itself is beneficial, but there is a great difference between peace and servitude. Peace is freedom in tranquillity, servitude is the worst of all evils, to be resisted not only by war, but even by death." -Cicero
Edited on June 18, 2012 at 12:02amNov '10
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
"Attacks on the inequality of wealth always miscarry when they fail to show that the wealth in question has been acquired by tainted means." -Richard Epstein
"Is it really true that political self interest is somehow nobler than economic self interest?" -Milton Friedman
"A society which aims for equality before liberty will end up with neither equality nor liberty…. You can only aim at equality by giving some people a right to take things from others," -Milton Friedman
"The moment at which people say, “The old rules no longer apply,” is the moment at which the old rules reassert themselves with brutal efficiency." -James Lileks
"To consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed , and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy." -Thomas Jefferson
Nov '10
Re: Classical Advice For Modern Politicians
"Oh, and I can’t actually bring myself to thank all the twits who say that they’ll never vote for [name of squishy RINO], even in the general. I want to give you all a special go to h311 from the depths of my soul. You’re worse than a Democrat. At least the Democrat voter naively believes that another [name of left wing firebrand] term is in the country’s best interest. You know damn well what 4 more years of [left-winger named above] mean and you’ll let it happen our [sic] of petulance and pride. Yes, I’m sure we’ll get the second coming of Reagan [four years from now] to make up for it. That worked so well [four years ago], didn’t it? Idiots." -Some guy named Justin, quoted by Ace of Spades. I redacted the names and dates to make the quote less dated.
Edited on June 18, 2012 at 12:19am