Saturday, July 28, 2007

The opposite of a motivational quip is good sense

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." - Elie Wiesel


This is a most retarded quote (one of those things that sounds very nice but falls apart if you critically examine it), for if this is the case, it'd be better to hate than to be indifferent; better to produce awful rubbish than nothing; indeed, better to be seditious than to mindlessly spout platitudes about racial/religious harmony (I can't properly characterise the non-sequitur that is the last quip).

Nonsense like this springs from the simplistic all or nothing, with us or against us mentalities that too many people have, springing forth from a lack of appreciation of subtlety and which inspires them to come up with and be misled by false dilemmas. Indeed, by attempting to emotionally blackmail people into supporting your chosen cause, worthy as it might be, you can alienate others.