Monday, August 06, 2007

Mutual insults

Bertrand Russell is one of my favorite philosophers. Rather than drown poor readers like me in an ocean of incomprehensible waves, he manages to state ideas simply and clearly. What could be more entertaining than that?

Today I was rereading an essay of his called, "Ideas that have harmed Mankind". While many things in the essay ring as true today as when they were written, I found the following paragraph topical (president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and president George W. Bush come to mind):

"It is highly probable that if two States equipped with modern armament face each other across a frontier, and if their leading statesmen devote themselves to mutual insults, the population of each side will in time become nervous, and one side will attack the other for fear of the other side doing so. It is safe to assume that a great modern war will not raise the level of prosperity even among the victors."



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Foot Quotes

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"

Charles Darwin