Sunday, April 25, 2010

He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.

Friedrich Nietzsche

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Whatever you resist, persists. If you obsess over something it is you. And that can be a fatal swallowing up of your life and time. Time into the abyss.

cjk said...

I may not always agree with Nietzsche, but I believe in giving credit when credit is due.

Pastorius said...

And yet, people spend their lives traveling to Africa to attempt to spoon a few drops of food and water into the starving mouths of a few children out of a few hundred million.

And yet, when such people do such things, no one quotes Nietzsche to them.

But, when people like us spend our time trying to inform people of another legitimate evil (Islam rather than hunger), then people feel they need to warn us.

Warn those who work against hunger and "Global Warming".

I'm so lost in my monster I can't even here you anymore.

;-)

Pastorius said...

And, by the way, let me be clear that I do not mean to be rude to MR or cjk or Culturist John.

I only mean to point out another simple truth, and that is, "do-gooders" often use this Nietzschean aphorism as an excuse to quit when the going gets tough, especially when the evil they fight is an ideological evil rather than a physical evil.

Do you see what I mean?

cjk said...

I know what you mean, but I take the quote in an entirely different angle as not letting myself become like my enemy. You have to fight fire with fire, but make sure you don't start just burning down everything in sight because the enemy does.
WWII is a great example of how to be.
The Anglo-Allies ruthlessly destroyed the enemy including civilians to win regardless of the cost to the enemy, but never ever became 'like' the Nazis.
When peace was eventually forced they showed themselves to be kind, honorable, and merciful.
I see it as a legitimate warning not to 'go native'.

Pastorius said...

I agree.

midnight rider said...

So who said anything about quitting? And who the fuck are you calling a dogooder?

I don't know about you but my Saturday was spent helping with a pig roast (and beef, too!) for the neighbor's neice's First Holy Communion (please, spare any customary Catholic bashing, I'm still a bit hungover).

Tending a pig roast involves firing it up the night before and roasting it long and slow, occasionally turning and basting, adding wood to the fire and so forth. Periods in between are generally spent sitting there making sure you don't set the whole fucking neighborhood on fire and dringking copiuos amounts of beer.

It's finally ready for cutting and consuming 12 or more hours later.

But please, don't let the facts get in the way of your assumptions.

As for Nietsche let me say first, I hate philosphy. It bores me to tears and I don't know much about philosophers.

Second, had the conversation Friday night been more along the lines of comments this morning ( http://ibloga.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-could-they-laugh.html ) which I completely agree with and tried to say Friday night instead of

"Abdooss is a lying piece of shit... ...Abdu is not merely a lying piece of shit, he is an incorrigible piece of shit liar. . . . . .You're doing your people a favour by dying in a war Muslims started and that we stop. . . . . . You, a Muslim by choice or circumstance, are not anyone at all of interest or worth to the world at large. . . . . .given that you identify yourself as a Muslim, you leave no one of worth any choice but to identify you as a killer and an enslaver and destroyer of life. . ."

I'd not have even bothered.

My point was if there is a chance to keep thiskid from embracing Islam THAT was not the way to do it. And Dag made that point himself today.

So not quitting, you don't get off that easy.

But if you say you can't even hear me anymore, I have to ask what's the fucking point? And do you still want my opinions? And if that's the case why not just tell me to fuck off and not come back?

midnight rider said...

The war on Islam must be swift sure violent bloody and unequivocable.

The war to win over the minds and souls of it's less strict adherents is going to take a bit more patience to keep it from coming back.

Conversion at the point of the sword is the way of Islam, not the way of the West.

Pastorius said...

MR,
I wasn't calling you a do-gooder.

midnight rider said...

"I wasn't calling you a do-gooder."

Sorry, my bad, then.