#excuse

wist@diasp.org

A quotation from Euripides

CYCLOPS: Are you the ones who went to punish Ilium on the Scamander for the theft of the worthless Helen?
ODYSSEUS: Yes, we are the ones who endured that terrible toil.
CYCLOPS: Disgraceful expedition, to sail for the sake of one woman to the land of the Phrygians!
ODYSSEUS: It was the doing of a god: blame no mortal for it.

[ΚΥΚΛΩΨ: ἦ τῆς κακίστης οἳ μετήλθεθ᾽ ἁρπαγὰς
Ἑλένης Σκαμάνδρου γείτον᾽ Ἰλίου πόλιν.
ΟΔΥΣΣΕΥΣ: οὗτοι, πόνον τὸν δεινὸν ἐξηντληκότες.
ΚΥΚΛΩΨ: αἰσχρὸν στράτευμά γ᾽, οἵτινες μιᾶς χάριν
γυναικὸς ἐξεπλεύσατ᾽ ἐς γαῖαν Φρυγῶν.
ΟΔΥΣΣΕΥΣ: θεοῦ τὸ πρᾶγμα: μηδέν᾽ αἰτιῶ βροτῶν.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Cyclops [Κύκλωψ], l. 280ff (c. 424-23 BC) [tr. Kovacs (1994)]

#quote #quotes #quotation #blame #divineplan #war #quest #excuse
Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/euripides/72363/

digit@joindiaspora.com
wist@diasp.org

A quotation by Harris, John F.

People may see hypocrisy and cynicism all around them, but in my experience, almost without exception, they believe their own views and actions — even when contradictory, even when private motivations differ from public explanations — are righteous and principled.

John F. Harris (b. c. 1963) American political journalist, editor

“‘He Is Our O.J.'” Politico (9 Jan 2020)

#quotation #quote #cynicism #excuse #hypocrisy #perspective #self-justification #self-righteousness

More notes and sourcing on WIST: https://wist.info/harris-john-f/47908/

wist@diasp.org

A quotation by Taylor, A. J. P.

It is always tempting when you have political discontent in your own country to say it is the fault of some other country and not of your own government.

A. J. P. Taylor (1906-1990) British historian, journalist, broadcaster [Alan John Percivale Taylor]

How Wars Begin (1979)

#quotation #quote #blame #discontent #excuse #foreigners #government #protest #suppression

More notes and sourcing on WIST: https://wist.info/taylor-ajp/47490/