I saw a fantastic quote today that’s worth sharing:
“How small, of all that human hearts endure, that part which laws or kings can cause or cure.” - Samuel Johnson
The commentary that went along with it is pretty good as well, from Boundless:
There’s no question that government is important: It has some necessary functions. Still, we’d do well to remember the centuries-old words of essayist Samuel Johnson: “How small, of all that human hearts endure, that part which laws or kings can cause or cure.” These days, alas, governments can cause a lot more of “what human hearts endure” than they used to, as technology has made control and destruction so much easier. (The 20th century, especially, was all too full of examples of such evils.) But they can still cure precious little, and often make things worse when they profess to try.
Not a bad summary of government if you ask me. Read the whole article, while brief it has some excellent insights into the limitations of government and the way that real people change the world.
You know, the day I posted that blog, my fiance wrote me and told me basically the same things about MLK that you mentioned on my blog. I was stunned. I’d never heard any of that. I did a little digging, and I was rather dismayed to find that all of it is true and has been recorded by various sources. I thought about deleting the post, but in the end I left it up in the hopes that someone would comment on MLK not being as “great” as we’ve always been told. So thanks. I didn’t want to get into it because I didn’t have all the facts, but I’m glad I know now, and I won’t be so quick to sing his praises, although I certainly can’t overlook the progress he made in the civil rights movement.
P.S. I loved that quote from Boundless, too!
:) That’s a great quote!
We celebrated Robert E Lee day instead of MLK.