A very apropos reminder from The Runner-Up about those who forget history...
The writer is Sophie Scholl, one of the members of a group of anti-Nazi propagandists from Munich who called themselves Die Weisse Rose (The White Rose). Naturally, they were silenced by the Gestapo in 1942, but not before they took deadly aim at their countrymen and -women who just wanted to survive the Nazi-regime.
"The real damage is done by those millions who want to 'survive.' The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves—or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn."
Read the whole piece at The Runner-Up
Posted by krudman at March 17, 2005 10:38 AM | TrackBack