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Quote by Francis August Schaeffer

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How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture

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Francis August Schaeffer

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“The matter on which I judge people is their willingness, or ability, to handle contradiction. Thus Paine was better than Burke when it came to the principle of the French revolution, but Burke did and said magnificent things when it came to Ireland, India and America. One of them was in some ways a revolutionary conservative and the other was a conservative revolutionary. It's important to try and contain multitudes. One of my influences was Dr Israel Shahak, a tremendously brave Israeli humanist who had no faith in collectivist change but took a Spinozist line on the importance of individuals. Gore Vidal's admirers, of whom I used to be one and to some extent remain one, hardly notice that his essential critique of America is based on Lindbergh and 'America First'—the most conservative position available. The only real radicalism in our time will come as it always has—from people who insist on thinking for themselves and who reject party-mindedness.”

PoliticsUnited StatesInfluenceRevolutionIndiaHumanismIsraelContradictionIndividualismIrelandConservatismCollectivismFrench RevolutionPartisanshipRadicalismFree ThoughtThomas PaineSpinozismEdmund BurkeGore VidalAmerica First CommitteeCharles LindberghIsrael Shahak
Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left
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“As to the 'Left' I'll say briefly why this was the finish for me. Here is American society, attacked under open skies in broad daylight by the most reactionary and vicious force in the contemporary world, a force which treats Afghans and Algerians and Egyptians far worse than it has yet been able to treat us. The vaunted CIA and FBI are asleep, at best. The working-class heroes move, without orders and at risk to their lives, to fill the moral and political vacuum. The moral idiots, meanwhile, like Falwell and Robertson and Rabbi Lapin, announce that this clerical aggression is a punishment for our secularism. And the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, hitherto considered allies on our 'national security' calculus, prove to be the most friendly to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Here was a time for the Left to demand a top-to-bottom house-cleaning of the state and of our covert alliances, a full inquiry into the origins of the defeat, and a resolute declaration in favor of a fight to the end for secular and humanist values: a fight which would make friends of the democratic and secular forces in the Muslim world. And instead, the near-majority of 'Left' intellectuals started sounding like Falwell, and bleating that the main problem was Bush's legitimacy. So I don't even muster a hollow laugh when this pathetic faction says that I, and not they, are in bed with the forces of reaction.”

DemocracyIslamHumanismTerrorismAfghanistanWorking ClassEgyptNational SecurityPakistanSecularismAl QaedaTalibanSaudi ArabiaJihadLeftismAlgeriaIslamismGeorge W BushSeptember 11 AttacksCentral Intelligence AgencyPat RobertsonJerry FalwellFederal Bureau Of InvestigationDaniel Lapin
Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left
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“Sonnet of Abortion My body, my decision, Whether I choose birth or abortion. Till a state can care for the newborn, No bill is qualified to offer resolution. Instead of controlling my birth canal, Work on carving a paradigm of equality. Build a world where a newborn is a gift, Not a burden on life, dream or economy. Abolish all disparities born of greed, Strip the wealthy of their ill-gotten riches. Use all resources for collective welfare, So that status ends up on history pages. Worse than aborting is birthing in instability. I'll give birth when I need not rely on pity.”

FeminismHumanismAbortionPregnancySonnetAbortion RightsReproductive RightsAnti AbortionPro ChoiceProchoice
Book:Hometown Human: To Live for Soil and Society
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“لم يجد العسكري في حياته كلها لم يجد متعة أعظم من أن يجلس السعات إلى عم حسن ، ويسمعه بمفرده أو معه الآخرون وهو يحدثهم ، ومن ذات نفسه يفرجهم على عوالم غريبة رائعة وليالي وكأنها مسحورة ترى من فنجان ، وأيام وأحداث وكأنها اغترفت من أكداس الروايات ، مع أنه في كل ما كان يتحدث به لم يكن هناك أثر للخيال ، فما رآه رأي العين أغرب مما يراه الآخرون رأي الخيال .. لاشك أن المتع كثيرة ولكن يبدو أن أمتعها جميعاً وأحلاها هي متعة أن تعرف ، متعة أن تعلم ما تجهله أو تزداد علماً بما تعرفه ، وكل ما يحدث عنه عم حسن دائماً جديد غير مطروق ، أناس وكأنهم ليسوا من جنس الناس ، وإنما من نوع آخر لا يتبدى إلا لعم حسن .. أو كأنهم الناس ، ولكن أشياء منهم مغلقة تفتح بكلمة سر لا يعرفها إلا الرجل العجوز.”

Humanism
Book:لغة الآي آي
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“Eudora Welty singles out for praise Austen's "habit of seeing both sides of her own subject - of seeing it indeed in the round". ... Both men and women can be vain about their appearances, selfish about money, overawed by rank, and limited by parochialism; both men and women can function capably, think profoundly, feel deeply, create imaginatively, laugh wittily, and love faithfully. Without vindicating the rights of anyone directly, Austen posits a humanism far ahead of her time. "How really modern she is, after all," Welty concludes of Austen.”

HumanismAusten
Book:Searching for Jane Austen
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