You should not be afraid of someone who has a library and reads many books; you should fear someone who has only one book; and he considers it sacred, but he has never read it.
You should not be afraid of someone who has a library and reads many books; you should fear someone who has only one book; and he considers it sacred, but he has never read it.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Why do you suppose there has been a recent concerted effort to vilify intellectuals?
The more intellectual someone becomes, the more they question everything that they are exposed to by virtue of their training and learning.
Learning comes in so many different methodologies and practices, but almost all of them will inevitably come to a contrast and compare methodology.
Why is this particular procedure of such concern to those who are not spending their life learning and growing from multiple resources?
Is it perhaps the possibility that with a multitude of alternate sources of information comes the prospect of an individual formulating their own distinct opinions? And if so, why would that be of such concern to a group that only wanted them to stay focused on one source of information?
The pages of history are littered with continuous examples of humanity being overrun and dominated by a conquering force. Almost inevitably, this conquering force chooses to rape and plunder the resources of the community or civilization that it has overtaken.
If the members of the conquering force, as well as the members of the community that is being overrun were fully exposed to multitudes of disparate, perspectives and opinions, the likelihood of some of the most prevalent techniques that are used for dominance would be potentially overshadowed by pre-existing knowledge that the community that is being attacked would possess.
When we are very clear on this one particular variable, today’s aphorism becomes all the more prescient, for Nietzsche was witness to a world of atrocities that had preceded him and which appeared equally ominous during his lifetime.
If we are to remain a free and self determinant society, there is no one resource upon which we may wholly rely. Rather, we are well served to study history, and the words of great minds that have preceded us in order that we might do our very best to provide same for the generations that follow.
If you are an intellectual and you are feeling judged by those who did not do the hard work of learning that you have done, take the time to gently educate others in any area of which they may be interested.
You can blow out a candle
But you can’t blow out a fire
Once the flames begin to catch
The wind will blow it higher
Freedom can never be taken for granted, nor should it be expected as something that any one person, race, or civilization can automatically expect in their lives. Freedom must continuously be protected by each and everyone of us.
Happy Monday!
Leave a Comment