General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNot sure if, in my cooler-headed moments, I'd agree with this quote...but after a day like today...
...hoo boy...
"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
- Denis Diderot
calimary
(80,693 posts)I'm keeping this one, for sure!!!!!!!!!
skamaria
(325 posts)"Man will not be free until the last politician is strung up on the guts of the last preacher".
calimary
(80,693 posts)Glad you're here! Either way, it's a GREAT quote! And it sure dovetails with how I feel!
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)jsr
(7,712 posts)Arkansas Granny
(31,483 posts)The_Commonist
(2,518 posts)Although I don't think it's that simple.
What really needs to happen is that the last sociopath needs to be strangled with the entrails of the last psychopath. They're running everything and ruining everything. Most people are pretty nice most of the time, and for the most part would like to do the right thing. The socio- and psychopaths have made it so that normal people don't have much of chance anymore. We try to keep up with them, and there's just no way to that for a person with a conscience.
russspeakeasy
(6,539 posts)VPStoltz
(1,295 posts)This, along with the cartoon referencing the umbrella saler, are the supremely satisfying.
Iggo
(47,486 posts)I agree with it every day.
freebrew
(1,917 posts)jtuck004
(15,882 posts)John Donne said that, of course, and I reflected on that as I listened to George Carlin suggest to the National Press Club that perhaps, for certain individuals, ritual suicide should make a return. And then I thought...ring that bell.
So, yeah.
malthaussen
(17,065 posts)I tend to agree with him on that one most of the time. The only word I might change is "politician" for "king."
-- Mal
hue
(4,949 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)trof
(54,255 posts)Elizabeth Warren is a stateswoman.
Bernie Sanders is a statesman.
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,773 posts)Ultimately, politicians and political science are how we humans mediate limited resources and unlimited desires.
druidity33
(6,435 posts)and as a cynic i'd say i guess their would be some authoritarian figures that would replace the priests and kings. Presidents and ministers perhaps...
As far as Diderot quotes i prefer this one (as the father of a 12 year old devious tween):
"All children are essentially criminal"
Yours is cute now but just you wait!
AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)hue
(4,949 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,267 posts)Even though I don't always agree 100%, as you said - there are times..
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)Diderot lived in the 18th century. His quote applies to ALL oppressors of the common human.
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)Was being a bit facetious.
1751: Diderot publishes first volume of Encyclopedie, much of the final work compiled clandestinely, some of it destroyed before publication.
He was speaking figuratively, with not just a little bit of justified anger.
Probably he would not have known the word "corporatists," (or if he did, it meant something different from my intent) and the more correct term for me to have used, anyway, would be "corporationists," "corporizationists," or "corporatocrats," or maybe "Neo-liberals," "Neo-cons," or just "fascists."
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)I was feeling a bit non-plussed by some of the responses on this thread - and ended up picking on you, duh. I guess because I know and love you.
kairos12
(12,817 posts)obxhead
(8,434 posts)Bookmarked, kicked, rec'd.
I'm keeping that one.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)It's raised a few eyebrows.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)... and we're making real progress.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)Although there are human rights lawyers I would definitely exempt. But they did not exist in Shakespeare's time.
trof
(54,255 posts)???
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)trof
(54,255 posts)hfojvt
(37,573 posts)is anything about either kings or priests.
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)MisterP
(23,730 posts)scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)Probably in one of my college philosophy courses - back in the late 60s.
As a metaphor for resistance to authoritarianism, it's absolutely timeless and always apt.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)merrily
(45,251 posts)Then again, I may have a broader definition of "king" than most.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)the priests were the big time bankers.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)Eddie Haskell
(1,628 posts)If I were to post a similar thread about Rabbis, I'd be censored; but bashing Catholicism is acceptable.
Don't let me catch you on the street.
WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)OK, tough guy. Thanks for the warning.
P.S. At the time of this quote, the priests were the equivalent of modern bankers.
Think about it.
P.S. You're also talking to someone who has defended the Catholic church left and right around here.
White hot heat, tough guy, usually translates into stupid.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)Man will never be free until the last corporate executive is strangled with the entrails of the last crooked politician.