Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Quotes: Reform and Reformers

Reformer 577 "There is even a coldness in his [Martin Luther King’s] public character, an impenetrability and solidity often seen in those who have given their entire lives to ideas and causes." Elizabeth Hardwick. “The Apotheosis of Martin Luther King.” 1968. Gross, ed. Essays.


Reformer 579 " His [Martin Luther King’s] was a practical, not a frenzied exhortation…." Elizabeth Hardwick. “The Apotheosis of Martin Luther King.” 1968. Gross, ed. Essays.


Reformers 892 "The spirituous and fermented liquors being thus disposed of, the zeal of the reformers next induced them to replenish the fire with all the boxes of tea and bags of coffee in the world…and crops of tobacco." Hawthorne: "Earth's Holocaust"


Reformers 892 “ 'Well;--they’ve put my pipe out,' said an old gentleman, flinging it into the flames in a pet… 'everything rich and racy—all the spice of life—is to be condemned as useless; now that they have kindled the bonfire, if these nonsensical reformers would fling themselves into it, all would be well enough' … 'Be patient,' responded a staunch conservative;-- 'it will come to that in the end; they will first fling us in, and finally themselves.' " Hawthorne: "Earth's Holocaust"


Reformers 1102 "…it behooves men, and especially men of benevolence, to consider well what they are about, and, before acting on their philanthropic purposes, to be quite sure that they comprehend the nature and all the relations of the business in hand; what has been established as an element of good to one being, may prove absolute mischief to another." Hawthorne: "The Snow Image"


Reformers 197 "The passion for setting people right is in itself an afflictive disease." Marianne Moore. 1935. Gross, ed. Oxford Book of Aphorisms.

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