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Quote of the Day: Cowardice
“When cowardice is made respectable, its followers are without number both from among the weak and the strong; it easily becomes a fashion.” ― Eric Hoffer
So, has cowardice become a fashion? The excessive timidity over Covid suggests it may well have. So, too, do increased reports of police not just ceasing to be proactive about policing – spending time avoiding getting into “situations.” But it has gone beyond that, with police refusing to make arrests of violent and dangerous criminals for fear of the adverse reaction should the perpetrator receive his just desserts when resisting arrest.
Outright police cowardice is rarer, but it reared its ugly head at the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, where one armed policeman actually fled and took cover. He was allowed to retire, another example of cowardice on the part of superiors who did not want the hassle of going after him.
Let’s not pick on the police, though. How many of us are afraid to take action against what we know is wrong – most notably the racism of the BLM and “anti-racism” crowd? How many people are even afraid to name the candidate they intend to vote for in a few weeks, for fear of retribution?
When I was a child, when you ran across a bully you confronted them. You pushed back when you were pushed, and if he took a swing at you, you popped him on the nose. Today, with zero-tolerance policies self-defense is viewed as unacceptable. We must understand rather than act. Which only embolden bullies.
Ultimately cowardice is unsustainable, except if you are willing to live as a slave. We became the land of the free, because we were the home of the brave. But fear begets fear.
There is a modern Greek saying that goes, “It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.” We get a chance to get off our knees and on our feet this November at the ballot box. But it will take more than just voting. It will take standing up for our rights afterward.
Published in General
Yes.
Oh, but it’s so much more civilized now! 🙄
It seems to me another appropriate quote would be, “An armed society is a polite society.” The society has to value things like freedom and honor over life.
This is the Quote of the Day. We have four openings left this month if you would like to share a quotation to educate, honor another, celebrate yourself, brag about your new acquisition, or just so you can rant. Our sign-up sheet is here.
Or, if you’re looking to write something a bit more creative, you might try our Group Writing Project this month: It was a dark and stormy night…
Maybe, but I would argue that, among our “learned class”, cowardice has become a virtue.
That dirty little coward . . .
…that shot Mister Howard?
I kid you not.
When I was a child the bullies were freakin’ psychopaths who should have been in a reformatory but “education is a right” so they were allowed to stick around propagating terror. Pushing back was very hazardous to one’s health.
Nevertheless, I persisted.