A good cause can become bad
if we fight it with means
that are indiscriminately murderous.
A bad cause can become good
if enough people fight for it
in a spirit of comradeship and self-sacrifice.
In the end it is how you fight,
as much as why you fight,
that makes your cause good or bad.
~ Freeman Dyson, Disturbing the Universe (1979)
________________________Freeman Dyson
Freeman Dyson Bibliography
Freeman Dyson, "Progress in Religion", May 16, 2000
Nicholas Dawidoff, "The Civil Heretic" in The New York Times, March 25, 2009
Charlie Rose, "A Conversation with Theoretical Physicist and Mathematician Freeman Dyson", August 14, 2009
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey
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3 comments:
Okay -- so that quote gives me pause for thought.
Pretty powerful.
Yes ... this one requires pondering.
A bad cause is always a bad cause isn't it whoever fights and how well?
For instance in the adoption world there are those who fight to have birth records kept sealed and unavailable to adoptees who will never be able to know who they are, their real names and families.That is a bad cause and always will be no matter how well the legislators and their supporters fight.
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