Qualities: FREEDOM
Freedom is insufficiently granted, and must be fought for. Sacrifice of freedom for the common good is acceptable, but overdone. In the end, we give up freedom because we lack the means or the courage to defend it. The strongest are those who can construct their freedom and function within the essential restrictions of the system. It is the duty of the strong to spread freedom to others, thus further insuring their own.
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
––Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854
You cannot separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.
––Malcolm X
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.
––Kris Kristofferson
The only purpose by which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.
––John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859
Liberty is the hardest test that one can inflict on a people. To know how to be free is not given equally to all men and all nations.
––Paul Valéry (1971-1945), French Writer
Freedom is not fun. It is not the same as individual happiness, nor is it security or peace or progress. It is a responsible choice. Freedom is not so much a right as a duty. Real freedom is not freedom from something; that would be license. It is freedom to choose between doing or not doing something, to act one way or another, to hold one belief or the opposite. It is not “fun” but the heaviest burden laid on man: to decide his own individual conduct as well as the conduct of society and the be responsible for both decisions.
––Peter Drucker
The greatest force in my life, the cause of several major turning points, has been the move toward more freedom. There has been a cost I have been willing to pay. I am free, but I have to prove it every day, even to myself. Then, when someone tries to take away my freedom, I am ready to fight them in whatever way is necessary. It is one of my perpetual states of mind. It makes me a rough and rebellious member of the society I have risked my life to defend with the same spirit at a higher level. There are lines in the sand, all around me.
––John Roberts
Once we have earned the basic freedoms, which have not yet been given to much of the world, we can then begin to see that there is so much more. There are other freedoms, which many never experience, even in the great democracies. These are more personal, less universal, appropriate only to some, unsuitable to others, unneeded by many. They are achieved by creating our own tiny individual worlds in which we are free to do things, to avoid things, to think things, to be exactly what we want, to be completely free from any restraint or imposition so long as the taking of our freedom does not leave behind an injury.
To be alone is not necessarily to be free. It is easy to escape for a time the difficulties and bothers of people and places and systems, but it is very difficult to create the freedom of mind and body that gives contentment and means you are in complete control. Freedom is not the absence of restrictions, for they exist everywhere. It is, in reality, the ability to function in happiness and objective by minimizing or evading the effects. One sees everywhere individuals without discipline who think they are free. The inability to control themselves or their environment merely locks them up in their own weaknesses. avoid things, to think things, to be exactly what we want, to be completelly that there
The average citizens of any democratic country see freedom as a collection of rights that primarily allow them to get through the day without being bothered or treated unfairly by people, businesses and government. They are willing to accept reasonable rules and responsibilities, and they expect restraint from cops, bureaucrats and unruly neighbors. They don’t think too much about being able to riot in the streets or write inflammatory criticisms of their rulers. They take for granted the hard-earned freedoms that are all too easily lost. We may be grateful that we need not worry about it on a daily basis. Just consider how many hundreds of millions of people in the world are switching to free economies and political systems after so many millennia under the harsh control of the despots. But, it is fragile, and requires eternal vigilance.
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
––Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854
You cannot separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.
––Malcolm X
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.
––Kris Kristofferson
The only purpose by which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.
––John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859
Liberty is the hardest test that one can inflict on a people. To know how to be free is not given equally to all men and all nations.
––Paul Valéry (1971-1945), French Writer
Freedom is not fun. It is not the same as individual happiness, nor is it security or peace or progress. It is a responsible choice. Freedom is not so much a right as a duty. Real freedom is not freedom from something; that would be license. It is freedom to choose between doing or not doing something, to act one way or another, to hold one belief or the opposite. It is not “fun” but the heaviest burden laid on man: to decide his own individual conduct as well as the conduct of society and the be responsible for both decisions.
––Peter Drucker
The greatest force in my life, the cause of several major turning points, has been the move toward more freedom. There has been a cost I have been willing to pay. I am free, but I have to prove it every day, even to myself. Then, when someone tries to take away my freedom, I am ready to fight them in whatever way is necessary. It is one of my perpetual states of mind. It makes me a rough and rebellious member of the society I have risked my life to defend with the same spirit at a higher level. There are lines in the sand, all around me.
––John Roberts
Once we have earned the basic freedoms, which have not yet been given to much of the world, we can then begin to see that there is so much more. There are other freedoms, which many never experience, even in the great democracies. These are more personal, less universal, appropriate only to some, unsuitable to others, unneeded by many. They are achieved by creating our own tiny individual worlds in which we are free to do things, to avoid things, to think things, to be exactly what we want, to be completely free from any restraint or imposition so long as the taking of our freedom does not leave behind an injury.
To be alone is not necessarily to be free. It is easy to escape for a time the difficulties and bothers of people and places and systems, but it is very difficult to create the freedom of mind and body that gives contentment and means you are in complete control. Freedom is not the absence of restrictions, for they exist everywhere. It is, in reality, the ability to function in happiness and objective by minimizing or evading the effects. One sees everywhere individuals without discipline who think they are free. The inability to control themselves or their environment merely locks them up in their own weaknesses. avoid things, to think things, to be exactly what we want, to be completelly that there
The average citizens of any democratic country see freedom as a collection of rights that primarily allow them to get through the day without being bothered or treated unfairly by people, businesses and government. They are willing to accept reasonable rules and responsibilities, and they expect restraint from cops, bureaucrats and unruly neighbors. They don’t think too much about being able to riot in the streets or write inflammatory criticisms of their rulers. They take for granted the hard-earned freedoms that are all too easily lost. We may be grateful that we need not worry about it on a daily basis. Just consider how many hundreds of millions of people in the world are switching to free economies and political systems after so many millennia under the harsh control of the despots. But, it is fragile, and requires eternal vigilance.
posted by John Roberts @ 8:12 PM
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