Democritus

I thought about it during the last session of our class in History and Moral Philosophy. H. & M. P. was different from other courses in that everybody had to take it but nobody had to pass it—and Mr. Dubois never seemed to care whether he got through to us or not. He would just point at you with the stump of his left arm (he never bothered with names) and snap a question. Then the argument would start.

But on the last day he seemed to be trying to find out what we had learned. One girl told him bluntly: "My mother says that violence never settles anything."

"So?" Mr. Dubois looked at her bleakly. "I'm sure the city fathers of Carthage would be glad to know that. Why doesn't your mother tell them so? Or why don't you ?"

They had tangled before—since you couldn't flunk the course, it wasn't necessary to keep Mr. Dubois buttered up. She said shrilly, "You're making fun of me! Everybody knows that Carthage was destroyed!"

"You seemed unaware of it," he said grimly. "Since you do know it, wouldn't you say that violence had settled their destinies rather thoroughly? However, I was not making fun of you personally; I was heaping scorn on an inexcusably silly idea—a practice I shall always follow. Anyone who clings to the historically untrue—and thoroughly immoral—doctrine that 'violence never settles anything' I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms."

- Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein

Don't forget to submit your songs!

Lendenburgh wrote:

New Metropolitan France
any chance we'll get to hold the cultural festival I proposed by the end of 1920 IC?

I'm having an awful week rn, so I won't have time to make contributions of any real significance. If you'd like my endorsement/permission to post it going ahead, though, then certainly!

New Metropolitan France wrote:

I'm having an awful week rn, so I won't have time to make contributions of any real significance. If you'd like my endorsement/permission to post it going ahead, though, then certainly!

Hopefully your week gets better bro

Lendenburgh wrote:

Seconded

I'm sure you'll make up for it by invading me during exam season ;)

You heard the man.