Saturday, January 8, 2011

Quips and Quotations

The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them.

--Mark Twain

(I think Twain is using the words "radical" and "conservative" in the broadest possible dictionary sense--KJ)

7 comments:

  1. True, Kirk, very true. Does this then mean that the radical works harder and the conservative drags him/her down.

    Mind you, if there were not this imbalance, this to and fro, I suspect nothing would grow.

    I suspect we need both, but I prefer to be on the side of the radical, even with my own occasional tendencies towards the conservative.

    Thanks, Kirk.

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  2. I struggle mightily against my tendencies toward the conservative, because I think the radical is often right in the long run. It's one reason I write a blog. Thanks for commenting, Elisabeth.

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  3. Hmm, sounds like a dialectic!

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  4. radical and conservative, the yang and yin that maintain the balance. either one in excess, not so good.

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  5. @Badger--The trick is not to end up like Socrates.

    @standing--We've gone from Hannibal, Missouri to ancient Athens to ancient China. You can't say I don't have a wide-ranging comment section.

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  6. What else do conservatives have to protect and hold onto, but other people's ideas?

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In order to keep the hucksters, humbugs, scoundrels, psychos, morons, and last but not least, artificial intelligentsia at bay, I have decided to turn on comment moderation. On the plus side, I've gotten rid of the word verification.