Monday, June 7, 2010

The wise and compassionate


"Pity the man who underestimates the righteous."

Henry Alford, How To Live: A Search For Wisdom From Old People, p.15

Alford wrote this in his chapter on Granny D. She was a cute old lady who walked around America for campaign finance reform. Supreme court took care of that in one decision declaring that corporations are people and can spend whatever they want.

Free speech, don't ya know.

Social activism is not all its cracked up to be. Howard Zinn was a great fan of it.

Look what happened to Jesus, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ghandi, and Malcom X. Should we throw John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy in there?

It takes more righteousness, friends. It takes smarts. It takes intelligence, awareness, courage, perseverence, and above all else faith in one's fellow human beings.

With all due respect to Mr. Alford, I think he's got it wrong. It would be better to say, pity the person who underestimates the wise and compassionate.

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