pat: (Default)
pat ([personal profile] pat) wrote2005-01-05 05:27 pm

(no subject)

I seem to be saying, or thinking, this a lot lately:

"An idea is not responsible for the people that believe it." Don Marquis.

[identity profile] necturus.livejournal.com 2005-01-06 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
Mr. Marquis's words seem more or less analogous to the much quoted "guns don't kill people; people kill people." Both assert the incorrectness of blaming an inanimate thing for its misuse.

I am not quite sure what idea you had in mind when you quoted Mr. Marquis, but America derives more than a little of its wealth, prosperity, and influence from the misuse of both gun and idea, alas.

[identity profile] patgreene.livejournal.com 2005-01-06 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
Hmmm... that wasn't what I was thinking, more along the lines of "if something is a good idea, in and of itself, the motives/morals/etc. of the people suggesting it are irrelevant. Likewise, if something is a bad idea, the fact that it is proposed by virtuous people doesn't make it any less a bad idea." Good, bad, and virtuous all being in the eye of the beholder, naturally.

[identity profile] mactavish.livejournal.com 2005-01-06 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"Save us from your followers"? It applies in a variety of contexts.