Yet conscious cynicism is much rarer than you might suppose. Few of us have the self-knowledge and emotional discipline to say one thing while meaning another.
That is a belief that I recommend people consciously choose to endorse in most social contexts. I wouldn’t say it is true though, unless spoken by a three year old with respect to his peers.
“Naturally the common people don’t want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
---Goering, quoted here.
The link has some added snark in square brackets, but I’m not up for figuring out how to defeat markdown to include it, and anyway the snark isn’t part of the original quote.
I have no idea how you’d evaluate the average level of self-delusion.
(And for reference, if something seems to be getting confused with markdown you can almost always fix it by throwing a “\” before the offensive character.
That is a belief that I recommend people consciously choose to endorse in most social contexts. I wouldn’t say it is true though, unless spoken by a three year old with respect to his peers.
An example for your side:
The link has some added snark in square brackets, but I’m not up for figuring out how to defeat markdown to include it, and anyway the snark isn’t part of the original quote.
I have no idea how you’d evaluate the average level of self-delusion.
Love it.
(And for reference, if something seems to be getting confused with markdown you can almost always fix it by throwing a “\” before the offensive character.