I speak here as Algérien become french one point, having lost his French citizenship, and having found. Of all the cultural riches that I received that I inherited, my Algerian culture is among those who have most strongly supported. The legacy I received from Algeria is something that has probably inspired my philosophical work. All the work I have continued, with respect to European philosophical thought, Western, as they say, Greek and European issues that I had to ask for a degree, a certain exteriority, n 'would certainly not have been possible if, in my personal history, I was not a child of the margin of Europe, a child of the Mediterranean, which was neither just nor simply french African and who spent his time traveling from one culture to another and feeding issues that arise from this instability. All that interested me long for the writing, the trace of the deconstruction of Western metaphysics - that I never, whatever may be said to have identified as something homogeneous or defined in the singular - while it could not not do this also refers to a place whose language and yet unknown to me or prohibited.posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:41 PM on April 7, 2009
"To know nothing is the safest creed."Pretty easily adaptable to just about any pointless argument, appropriately obscure, and ready with some handy backstory. From Walter Fogg's 1,000 Sayings of History
— Motto of Johan (Jan) Van Olden-Barneveldt (1547-16-19), Dutch Statesman
In his youth, Barneveldt, who was fated to be the dominating figure of Holland over a period of thirty-two years, found time away from his law books in Heidelberg to study Calvinism. He hoped to discover therein a satisfying religion to guide him, but the doctrines only bewildered him. In his perplexity he turned to the inscription over the gateway of his great-grandfather's noble house in his native town of Amersfoort, and adopted it—not as counseling ignorance or indifference in worldly matters, but as removing all anxiety about his spiritual fortunes. He still believed in a Creator; to that anchor he would hold fast. He simply threw overboard all the dogmas that had confused him, and determined to perform his earthly duties soberly and faithfully, confident that a generous Eternal would not visit perpetual torture upon his soul for any mistakes that he might make. This was the creed to which he adhered, even to the day when he went to his execution a victim of malevolent injustice.
"The distance is nothing; 'tis only the first step that costs."This book's full of crap like this...more?
—Marquise du Defand, Marie de Vichy-Chamrond (1697-1780).
This was the cynical rejoinder of the witty and accomplished Madame du Deffand when the credulous Cardinal de Polignac related to her in all seriousness the tradition that the martyr Saint Denis, carrying his decapitated head in his hands, walked "two leagues" to the spot where his church was afterward erected. She refers humorously to the incident in one of her letters to Horace Walpole (June 6, 1767).
"I will find a way or make one."Walter Fogg is a hero of mine; 'debouched' has never been used so well.
—Hannibal, Carthaginian general.
This was Hannibal's answer to the skeptics who questioned his amazing plan of invading Italy by taking his army over the Alps. . . . Whether he conquered the mountain-chain by way of the Mt. Genèvre Pass or Mt. Cenis, in the Cottian Alps, or by the little St. Bernard in the Graian Alps, is a matter of difference among historians; some maintain that it was the Pass of Argentière. Be that as it may, he climbed with foot and horse, and thirty elephants, to a height of probably seven thousand feet, in the snow of winter; skirting slippery precipices and fighting off the hostile Gauls who tumbled rocks down from the crags upon the heads of his soldiers. On the ninth day he gained the top, and, giving his weary tropps a rest, pointed out to them the inviting panorama of the rich Campania, which was to be one of the rewards of their courage and fidelity. Animated with fresh strength by this fascinating prospect, they began the descent. . . . . So it was that one spring day in 217 B.C. the great Carthaginian, with 26,000 men, suddenly debouched into the plains of Italy. In his passage of the Alps, accomplished in fifteen days, he had lost half his army but stamped himself as a far greater genius than any captain the Romans could put into the field against him. He had performed one of the most stupendous military feats of all time.
"The man who runs away may fight again."posted by carsonb at 1:53 PM on April 7, 2009
—Demosthenes (384 or 383-322 B.C.), Attic orator and statesman.
When Demosthenes, who fought as one of the hoplites or heavy infantry in the battle of Chaeronea (August, 338 B.C.), was censured because he abondoned his shield (one of those most disgraceful acts for a Greek soldier) and ran away from the victorious troops of Philip the Macedonian, he retorted iwth a line from Menander, the Greek comedian. . . . . Despite his flight, the Athenians kept their faith in Demosthenes, and he delivered the funeral oration over his three thousand countrymen who, braver or less fortunate than himself, perished or were taken prisoners on the field that he deserted. . . . . There is a modern proverb, "He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day," which may perhaps be traced back to this ancient statesman.
I have always had trouble recognizing myself in the features of the intellectual playing his political role according to the screenplay that you are familiar with and whose heritage deserves to be questioned.
posted by KokuRyu at 12:28 PM on April 7, 2009