#immorality — Public Fediverse posts

A quotation from Hannah Arendt

For the propaganda of totalitarian movements which precede and accompany totalitarian regimes is invariably as frank as it is mendacious, and would-be totalitarian rulers usually start their careers by boasting of their past crimes and carefully outlining their future ones. The Nazis were “convinced that evil-doing in our time has a morbid force of attraction,” Bolshevik assurances inside and outside Russia that they do not recognize ordinary moral standards have become a mainstay of Communist propaganda, and experience has proven time and again that the propaganda value of evil deeds and general contempt for moral standards is independent of mere self-interest, supposedly the most powerful psychological factor in politics.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)

More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/41493/

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A quotation from Racine

HIPPOLYTUS: Great crimes are never single, they are link’d
   To former faults. He who has once transgress’d
   May violate at last all that men hold
   Most sacred; vice, like virtue, has degrees
   Of progress; innocence was never seen
   To sink at once into the lowest depths
   Of guilt.
 
[HIPPOLYTE: Quelques crimes toujours precedent les grands crimes.
   Quiconque a pu franchir les bornes légitimes
   Peut violer enfin les droits les plus sacrés ;
   Ainsi que la vertu, le crime a ses degrés ;
   Et jamais on n’a vu la timide innocence
   Passer subitement à l’extrême licence.]

Jean Racine (1639-1699) French dramatist
Phèdre [Phædra], Act 4, sc. 2, l. 1094ff (1677-01-01) [tr. Boswell (1897)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/racine-jean/80880/

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A quotation from Franklin Roosevelt

We may make mistakes — but they must never be mistakes which result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral principle.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Speech (1945-01-20), Inaugural Address, Washington, D.C.

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-franklin-d…

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A quotation from Hannah Arendt

The trouble with Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal. From the viewpoint of our legal institutions and of our moral standards of judgment, this normality was much more terrifying than all the atrocities put together, for it implied — as had been said at Nuremberg over and over again by the defendants and their counsels — that this new type of criminal, who is in actual fact hostis generis humani [enemy of humanity], commits his crimes under circumstances that make it well-nigh impossible for him to know or to feel that he is doing wrong.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Epilogue (1963)

More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/42625/

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A quotation from Horace

Virtue begins by shunning vice; wisdom
By shunning folly.
 
[Virtus est vitium fugere et sapientia prima
stultitia caruisse.]

Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1, l. 41ff (1.1.41-42) (20 BC) [tr. Ferry (2001)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/14188/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #avoidance #folly #foolishness #immorality #negative #sin #stupidity #vice #virtue #wisdom

A quotation from Horace

Virtue begins by shunning vice; wisdom
By shunning folly.
 
[Virtus est vitium fugere et sapientia prima
stultitia caruisse.]

Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1, l. 41ff (1.1.41-42) (20 BC) [tr. Ferry (2001)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/14188/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #avoidance #folly #foolishness #immorality #negative #sin #stupidity #vice #virtue #wisdom

A quotation from Horace

Virtue begins by shunning vice; wisdom
By shunning folly.
 
[Virtus est vitium fugere et sapientia prima
stultitia caruisse.]

Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1, l. 41ff (1.1.41-42) (20 BC) [tr. Ferry (2001)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/14188/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #avoidance #folly #foolishness #immorality #negative #sin #stupidity #vice #virtue #wisdom

A quotation from Horace

Virtue begins by shunning vice; wisdom
By shunning folly.
 
[Virtus est vitium fugere et sapientia prima
stultitia caruisse.]

Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1, l. 41ff (1.1.41-42) (20 BC) [tr. Ferry (2001)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/14188/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #avoidance #folly #foolishness #immorality #negative #sin #stupidity #vice #virtue #wisdom

A quotation from Herbert Hoover

   The duty of public men in this Republic is to lead in standards of integrity — both in mind and money.
   Dishonor in public life has a double poison. When people are dishonorable in private business, they injure only those with whom they deal or their own chances in the next world. But when there is a lack of honor in Government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.
   Some folks seem to think these are necessary evils in a free government. Or that it is smart politics. Those are deadly sleeping pills. No public man can be just a little crooked.

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, US President (1929-33)
Speech (1951-08-30), “Concerning Honor in Public Life,” Iowa Centennial Celebration, Des Moines, Iowa (radio broadcast)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/hoover-herbert/18705…

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A quotation from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Treat bad men exactly as if they were insane. They are in-sane, out of health, morally. Reason, which is food to sound minds, is not tolerated, still less assimilated, unless administered with the greatest caution; perhaps, not at all. Avoid collision with them, so far as you honorably can; keep your temper, if you can, — for one angry man is as good as another; restrain them from violence, promptly, completely, and with the least possible injury, just as in the case of maniacs, — and when you have got rid of them, or got them tied hand and foot so that they can do no mischief, sit down and contemplate them charitably, remembering that nine tenths of their perversity comes from outside influences, drunken ancestors, abuse in childhood, bad company, from which you have happily been preserved, and for some of which you, as a member of society, may be fractionally responsible.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Article (1860-08), “The Professor’s Story [Elsie Venner],” ch. 16 [The Professor], Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 34

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/holmes-sr-oliver-wen…

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A quotation from Marcus Aurelius

Never regard something as doing you good if it makes you betray a trust, or lose your sense of shame, or makes you show hatred, suspicion, ill will, or hypocrisy, or a desire for things best done behind closed doors.
 
[Μὴ τιμήσῃς ποτὲ ὡς συμφέρον σεαυτοῦ, ὃ ἀναγκάσει σέ ποτε τὴν πίστιν παραβῆναι, τὴν αἰδῶ ἐγκαταλιπεῖν, μισῆσαί τινα, ὑποπτεῦσαι, καταράσασθαι, ὑποκρίνασθαι, ἐπιθυμῆσαί τινος τοίχων καὶ παραπετασμάτων δεομένου.]

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 3, ch. 7 (3.7) [tr. Hays (2003)]

Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/marcus-aureleus/2675…

#quote #quotes #quotation #advantage #benefit #betrayal #corruption #dishonesty #embarrassment #evaluation #hatred #hypocrisy #immorality #insincerity #integrity #lying #profit #secrecy #selfrespect #suspicion #vice

A quotation from Marcus Aurelius

Never regard something as doing you good if it makes you betray a trust, or lose your sense of shame, or makes you show hatred, suspicion, ill will, or hypocrisy, or a desire for things best done behind closed doors.
 
[Μὴ τιμήσῃς ποτὲ ὡς συμφέρον σεαυτοῦ, ὃ ἀναγκάσει σέ ποτε τὴν πίστιν παραβῆναι, τὴν αἰδῶ ἐγκαταλιπεῖν, μισῆσαί τινα, ὑποπτεῦσαι, καταράσασθαι, ὑποκρίνασθαι, ἐπιθυμῆσαί τινος τοίχων καὶ παραπετασμάτων δεομένου.]

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 3, ch. 7 (3.7) [tr. Hays (2003)]

Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/marcus-aureleus/2675…

#quote #quotes #quotation #advantage #benefit #betrayal #corruption #dishonesty #embarrassment #evaluation #hatred #hypocrisy #immorality #insincerity #integrity #lying #profit #secrecy #selfrespect #suspicion #vice

A quotation from Marcus Aurelius

Never regard something as doing you good if it makes you betray a trust, or lose your sense of shame, or makes you show hatred, suspicion, ill will, or hypocrisy, or a desire for things best done behind closed doors.
 
[Μὴ τιμήσῃς ποτὲ ὡς συμφέρον σεαυτοῦ, ὃ ἀναγκάσει σέ ποτε τὴν πίστιν παραβῆναι, τὴν αἰδῶ ἐγκαταλιπεῖν, μισῆσαί τινα, ὑποπτεῦσαι, καταράσασθαι, ὑποκρίνασθαι, ἐπιθυμῆσαί τινος τοίχων καὶ παραπετασμάτων δεομένου.]

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 3, ch. 7 (3.7) [tr. Hays (2003)]

Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/marcus-aureleus/2675…

#quote #quotes #quotation #advantage #benefit #betrayal #corruption #dishonesty #embarrassment #evaluation #hatred #hypocrisy #immorality #insincerity #integrity #lying #profit #secrecy #selfrespect #suspicion #vice