So They Say!

 

Nothing to fear but fear itself

It capitalises on what people seem to like best – fear.  In all popular entertainment – movies, TV, books, magazines, amusement parks etc. – the greatest attractions are those that arouse fear.  Is this a biological holdover from more primitive times when natural phenomena were scary mysteries, and ordinary life held many dangers that could not be dealt with?  Whatever the case, many people seem to need a regular dose of fear.  ‘Terrorism’ provided one, but as more and more folks are starting to question the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Bush is diverting attention to a new and more wonderful scary prospect – BIRD FLU.  He will call out the military to deal with that too.  (Helen Woodson, letter to the editor, October 22nd ’05)

 

Who Said This?

The East-West conflict . . . cannot, in this nuclear age, be resolved by the triumph of one side over the other without the extinction of both.  I say, therefore, we can only reach our goal by the gradual acceptance of the view that we can all gain more by agreement than by aggression.  (Prime minister Harold Macmillan, during a talk with president Kennedy, in June, 1961, quoted in A Thousand Days, Arthur Schlesinger.  They don’t make prime ministers like that anymore.)

 

In Those Still Living

I heard Donald Rumsfeld say: ‘Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.’ (from What I Heard About Iraq, by Eliot Weinberger.  Google this site!)