"We attacked a foreign people and treated them like rebels. As you know, it's all right to treat barbarians barbarically. It's the desire to be barbaric that makes governments call their enemies barbarians."
Bertold Brecht from the Good Reads. com website. No attribution of the source material was given. The two following quotes from the same site prove why this annoys me so much.
"Art is not a mirror. Art is a hammer."
Brecht
"Art is not a mirror held up to life, but a hammer with which to shape it."
Brecht again. Both from Good Reads. com
I think you can see my point. Both quotes are similar, but the latter has more muscle. Did he say them both, or did someone paraphrase the first one? I sure as hell don't know, but now I really want to read him.
The next quote came from one site, but two other sites also quoted it. All three were slightly different, which is understandable in translated work. I'd still like to know where it came from. Perhaps my loyal readers, if I have any, can help out.
"The worst illiterate is the political illiterate. He hears nothing, sees nothing, takes no part in political life. He doesn't seem to know that the cost of living, the price of beans, of flour, of rent, of medicines, all depend on political decisions. He even prides himself on his political ignorance, sticks out his chest and says he hates politics. He doesn't know, the imbecile, that from his political non-participation comes the prostitute, the abandoned child, the robber and, worst of all, corrupt officials, the lackeys of exploitative multinational corporations."
Bertold Brecht: From the MoveOn.org website. I encourage you to read the other versions of this quote. I would love to know if it is from a play, book, letter or something.
I promise you that most of the posted quotations are from my reading. I also promise to never use the word 'quote' so many times in one post.
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