#loyalty
But I’d sooner have the depths of earth gape open,
and almighty Father hurl me down to Hades
with his bolt, to the pallid shades and inky night,
before I disobey my conscience or its laws.[Sed mihi vel tellus optem prius ima dehiscat
Vel pater omnipotens adigat me fulmine ad umbras,
Pallentis umbras Erebo noctemque profundam,
Ante, pudor, quam te violo aut tua iura resolvo.]
Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 4, l. 24ff (4.24-29) [Dido] (29-19 BC) [tr. Bartsch (2021)]
#quote #quotation #curse #damnation #destruction #divine-punishment #divine-retribution #loyalty #oath #widow
More notes and sourcing on WIST: https://wist.info/virgil/53546/
A quotation by Commager, Henry Steele
It is easier to say what loyalty is not than what it is. It is not conformity. It is not passive acquiescence in the status quo. It is not preference for everything American over everything foreign. It is not an ostrich-like ignorance of other countries and other institutions. It is not the indulgence in ceremony — a flag salute, an oath of allegiance, a fervid verbal declaration. It is not a particular creed, a particular version of history, a particular body of economic practices, a particular philosophy.
Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
“Who Is Loyal to America?” Harper’s Magazine #1168 (Sep 1947)
#quote #quotation #ceremony #conformity #ignorance #loyalty #nationalism #patriotism #status-quo
More notes and sourcing on WIST: https://wist.info/commager-henry-steele/51987/
the sentient fool,
with their back against the wall;
deemed superfluous...
#photo #art #sadness #heartbreak #lfoolish #rejected #pandemic #doubt #crushed # #isolation #lonely #sorrow #ignorant #loyalty #detrot #dejection #ancillary #expendable #hillside #rockwall #Diana #toycamera #haiku