Quotes of the month (C.S Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien)

This fabulous quote from C.S. Lewis (1989-1963) strikes at the heart of today’s political debate. The first sentence would probably be enough…

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies, The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

A decent runner-up, also by C.S. Lewis and also applicable to the disastrous path that Obama and the Democrats are on:

We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

And maybe best of all is this, which came as a comment to this posting but which I’ve added to the main part of the posting because it’s so damn good. (The next two sentences of intro prior to the quote are from my friend “The Freak”.)

This one is from fiction. It’s from The Two Towers (which you should read, by the way). It is from the chapter about the speech of Saruman.

In spite of the fact that this is fiction, I find it eerily applicable to what happens to many when The One speaks.

Those who listened unwarily to that voice could seldom report the words that they heard; and if they did, they wondered, for little power remained in them. Mostly they remembered only that it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire awoke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves. When others spoke they seemed harsh and uncouth by contrast; and if they gainsaid the voice, anger was kindled in the hearts of those under the spell. For some the spell lasted only while the voice spoke to them, and when it spake to another they smiled, as men do who see through a juggler’s trick while others gape at it. For many the sound of the voice alone was enough to hold them enthralled; but for those whom it conquered the spell endured when they were far away, and ever they heard that soft voice whispering and urging them. But none were unmoved; none rejected its pleas and its commands without an effort of mind and will, so long as its master had control of it.