I lifted this reference today from "The Daily Stoic" newsletter by Ryan Holiday and it seems relevant:
"The Stoics would have loved a toast given by Admiral David Farragut in the American Civil War, a similar fight of good against evil, a struggle of many years, not just to keep the country together but to triumph over the evil of slavery…
I lifted this reference today from "The Daily Stoic" newsletter by Ryan Holiday and it seems relevant:
"The Stoics would have loved a toast given by Admiral David Farragut in the American Civil War, a similar fight of good against evil, a struggle of many years, not just to keep the country together but to triumph over the evil of slavery. 'What matters if, General, whether you and I are killed or not?' Farragut said as he raised his glass to a colleague. 'We came here to die. It is our business and it must happen sooner or later. We must fight this thing out until there is no more than one man left and that man must be a Union man. Here’s to his health...We have people [now] who are trying to revert or oppose age-old traditions of equality, fairness under the law, justice, freedom, as well as virtue itself. There is the modern nihilism, excess, hopelessness. We have to fight for those ideas, we have to put ourselves on those front lines."
More than one observer has likened this moment in our country's history to the time before the Civil War. But hasn't it always been thus? There are always people who will try to advantage themselves against the best interests of others, whether it be in this democracy or another circumstance. The point is that those with the courage and wisdom to do the right thing, to support the rule of law, justice, freedom must DO SOMETHING. Evil persists in the world when men (and women) of good conscience do nothing. Happy 247th Birthday America! May we celebrate many more.
I lifted this reference today from "The Daily Stoic" newsletter by Ryan Holiday and it seems relevant:
"The Stoics would have loved a toast given by Admiral David Farragut in the American Civil War, a similar fight of good against evil, a struggle of many years, not just to keep the country together but to triumph over the evil of slavery. 'What matters if, General, whether you and I are killed or not?' Farragut said as he raised his glass to a colleague. 'We came here to die. It is our business and it must happen sooner or later. We must fight this thing out until there is no more than one man left and that man must be a Union man. Here’s to his health...We have people [now] who are trying to revert or oppose age-old traditions of equality, fairness under the law, justice, freedom, as well as virtue itself. There is the modern nihilism, excess, hopelessness. We have to fight for those ideas, we have to put ourselves on those front lines."
More than one observer has likened this moment in our country's history to the time before the Civil War. But hasn't it always been thus? There are always people who will try to advantage themselves against the best interests of others, whether it be in this democracy or another circumstance. The point is that those with the courage and wisdom to do the right thing, to support the rule of law, justice, freedom must DO SOMETHING. Evil persists in the world when men (and women) of good conscience do nothing. Happy 247th Birthday America! May we celebrate many more.