Truth is always the enemy of power. And power the enemy of truth.
Edward AbbeyRead
The wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. He is in front of it.
Interpretation
The true danger lies not in captivity but in our own nature and actions.
Axel Munthe's quote highlights the idea that the real threat is not the wild beast trapped in a cage, but rather the beast within ourselves that embodies cruelty and violence. It suggests that our inner struggles and darker traits are more significant than the external circumstances we often blame for our problems.
In practice
Use this quote in a discussion about human nature and morality.
Truth is always the enemy of power. And power the enemy of truth.
For my part I cannot believe in a God who is angry with me because I do not believe in him. I cannot believe in a God who is less tolerant than I. I cannot believe in a God who has neither humour nor common sense.
Ash Wednesday is full of joy...The source of all sorrow is the illusion that of ourselves we are anything but dust.
We are born into a world in which sexual possibilities are narrowly circumscribed. . . . We are programmed by the culture as surely as rats are programmed to make the arduous way through the scientist's maze, and that programming operates on every level of choice and action.
Attention should be paid to this question of our soul, and not simply to accounting procedures. Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself.
Logic doesn't apply to the real world. D. R. Hofstadter and D. C. Dennett (eds.) The Mind's I, 1981.
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