WIST QuotationsOct 24

A quotation from Teddy Roosevelt

We hold that our loyalty is due solely to the American Republic, and to all our public servants exactly in proportion as they efficiently and faithfully serve the Republic. Our opponents, in flat contradiction of Lincoln’s position, hold that our loyalty is due to the President, not the country; to one man, the servant of the people, instead of to the people themselves. In practice they adopt the fetishism of all believers in absolutism; for every man who parrots the cry of “stand by the President,” without adding the proviso “so far as he serves the Republic” takes an attitude as essentially unmanly as that of any Stuart Royalist who championed the doctrine that the King could do no wrong. No self-respecting and intelligent freeman can take such an attitude.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Essay (1918-05), “Lincoln and Free Speech,” Metropolitan Magazine, Vol. 47, No. 6

More info about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/7…

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Essay (1918-05), "Lincoln and Free Speech," Metropolitan Magazine, Vol. 47, No. 6 - Roosevelt, Theodore | WIST Quotations

We hold that our loyalty is due solely to the American Republic, and to all our public servants exactly in proportion as they efficiently and faithfully serve the Republic. Our opponents, in flat contradiction of Lincoln's position, hold that our loyalty is due to the President, not the country; to…

WIST Quotations
WIST QuotationsAug 8

A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson

Undying hope is co-ruler of the human bosom with infallible credulity. A man finds he has been wrong at every preceding stage of his career, only to deduce the astonishing conclusion that he is at last entirely right.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…

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WIST QuotationsJun 20

A quotation from Orwell

   From the totalitarian point of view history is something to be created rather than learned. A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened. Then again, every major change in policy demands a corresponding change of doctrine and a revelation of prominent historical figures.
   This kind of thing happens everywhere, but is clearly likelier to lead to outright falsification in societies where only one opinion is permissible at any given moment. Totalitarianism demands, in fact, the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run probably demands a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic Magazine

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/orwell-george/43942/

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WIST QuotationsMar 24

A quotation from S. P. Somtow

The ways of dead people are not our ways. They have a very oblique way of expressing themselves, and often they’ll tell you something that can be interpreted many ways; it gives them a way out while preserving their reputation for infallibility.

S. P. Somtow (b. 1952) Thai-American music composeer, conductor, author [Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul; สมเถา สุจริตกุล; Somthao Sucharitkun]
“Lottery Night,” World Fantasy Convention Program Book (1989-10)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/somtow-s-p/75788/

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"Lottery Night," World Fantasy Convention Program Book (1989-10) - Somtow, S. P. | WIST Quotations

The ways of dead people are not our ways. They have a very oblique way of expressing themselves, and often they’ll tell you something that can be interpreted many ways; it gives them a way out while preserving their reputation for infallibility. Collected in Gardner Dozois, ed., Year's Best Science…

WIST Quotations
Thomas WystrachJul 27, 2020
July 18th marks the 150th anniversary of dogmas on papal #infallibility and universal jurisdiction: Should we be celebrating? https://bit.ly/3jK2MaE #Papst #Pope #Unfehlbarkeit #Theologie #Kirchengeschichte #Theology #ChurchHistory (via @LaCroixInt)

Should we be celebrating?
Bluesky

Bluesky Social
Atheism ActuallyJul 6, 2024

-- The Catholic Infallibility Shell Game, or, how Catholic infallibility is functionally fallible --
(from Kevin Nontradicath)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdzxGoGX1wA

#Catholic #church #papacy #infallibility #God #Pope #exCathedra

The Catholic Infallibility Shell Game, or, how Catholic infallibility is functionally fallible

YouTube
LongreadsOct 19, 2023

"The brain does not monitor itself for truth; once encoded, a memory is simply there, no matter how false it is, and a false memory can be as vivid, detailed, and laden with emotion as any other."

https://harpers.org/archive/2023/11/mere-belief/

#Longreads #EditorsPicks #Memory #Memoir #Infallibility

Mere Belief, by Sallie Tisdale

Sliding down the curve of forgetting

Harper's Magazine
WIST Quotations has moved!Jun 12, 2023

A quotation from Hinshelwood, Cyril:

«««««
A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional objectivity. It would be more nearly true to say that it is based upon wonder, adventure and hope.
»»»»»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/hinshelwood-cyril/46639/

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