"Discouragement of natural rebels is no service to a democracy. But (some) people are so scared to allow anyone to foster anything resembling a savior complex, that the dynamism which goes with a reforming zeal is being damped down and lost to the world. Great deeds can only be achieved when we are more than our ordinary little selves. When we are lent wings, we should not reject them, of ourselves or of others."
- Irene Claremont Castilligo
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"Are they scared we're gonna cut their throats or somethin'?"
"They're not scared of you, they're scared of what you represent to 'em."
"All we represent to them, man, is somebody who needs a haircut."
"Oh no. What you represent to them is freedom."
"What the hell's wrong with freedom man, that's what it's all about."
"Yeah. That's right. That's what it's all about. But talkin' about it, and bein' it - that's two different things. I mean, it's real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. A'course, don't ever tell anybody that they're not free, cuz they're gonna get real busy maimin' and killin', to prove to you that they are free. Oh yeah. They're gonna talk to you and talk to you about individual freedom - but (when) they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em."
"That don't make 'em runnin' scared."
"No. That don't make 'em runnin' scared. That makes 'em dangerous."
- Easy Rider dialogue
Jack Nicholsen & Dennis Hopper
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Two bitterly opposing groups of people sit on opposite sides of a banquet table with the intention of negotiating for peace. The 'good guys' are on one side of the table, the 'bad guys' on the other - each group represented by a spokesman leader. Hours pass and as the evening wears on with little hope of finding peace, due to the fact that the bad guys at the table are hurling epithets and name calling and falsely accusing and so forth. The bad guy's spokesman is the worst of all and goading his ne'er do well team mates on....
The good guys have little to say, following in suit with their leader who is likewise without a lot to say in retaliation or self defence.
Finally the leader of the bad guys holds his hands up to silence his following, going on to ask the good guy leader if he has anything to say - why he isn't saying much, along with his followers who are equally conservative in their speech.
The good guy leader replies: "Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak for myself and my comrades... All of this reminds me of a case where two fisherman on a large trawler are engulfed in heavy seas and the trawler sinks with nets and equipment on deck dragging the two men down with it. One man survives by struggling to stand on the other man's shoulders and making his way to the surface. He is rescued and the body of the perished man is recovered, at which time it is determined that there are severe claw boot scars all over the drowned man's shoulders and head. The surviving man is finally persuaded to explain that in order to save himself he panic'd and events unfolded as described..."
At this time the bad guy leader impatiently queries:
"Why are you telling me all this?"
The good guy leader sighs patiently and resolves:
"Well sir. I can understand a panic'd man on a sinking trawler inadvertantly drowning another man in such a way...
(pause)
"But, what I don't understand, is when it happens at the dinner table."
(Paraphrased from an episode in the novel, Dune, by Frank Herbert)
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"At every turn, one is socially encouraged to honor and seek out the truth. But God help you (socially) if and when you find it." - Rascal Puff
02-10-2008 09:27 PM 
