Good people via fear

"It is hard to believe that even a good man would stop himself from stealing and doing all kinds of other bad things, if he knew he would never get caught."

Fear does keep people in check, but that makes society sound scary. It's not so much fear as the norm. It is the norm to obey the laws and do everything you can to stay clean, which puts doing bad things out of your mind. It's just not relevant enough to think about doing.
Add an invisibility ring to this equation and you would, of course, start small. Maybe steal your Tim's coffee if you didn't have the change and were in a hurry. Minor inconveniences would be resolved. And then one day, if you saw someone doing something terrible to the one you love, you may just kill them. But it would take a long time, and, assuming you didn't share the knowledge of the ring with people, "Hey, honey! You won't believe this!" the alienation would be a slow process. But then again, people are more inclined to take personal risks for those they love. People with families can't truly alienate themselves from society.

One, single, lonely man (or woman) with no money, family, and a nasty case of psoriasis would be your likely candidate to turn lethal. I like the "what if" of the origin of evil, because there is no sudden change, it's a slow process that brings circumstances to play that are normally just impossible.

A Great city

"A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one."
~Aristotle


I believe that this quote clearly defines the difference between a city such as Athens and one such as Persepolis. Greek was a relatively small city, but made more technical, philosophical, medical, and societal advances than all of the Persian empire. Persepolis was a city of crushed people, working as slaves to one ruler. Without freedom, people are unable to achieve their true glory and greatness, and when an entire civilization is crushed, it is a great waste of life. I believe that this waste of life makes Alexander's mass killings not only acceptable, but necessary and good. 

Wealth vs. Glory

"And now, dear Margaret, do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose? My life might have been passed in ease and luxury; but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path. Oh, that some encouraging voice would answer in the affirmative! My courage and my resolution is firm; but my hopes fluctuate, and my spirits are often depressed."

-Frankenstein, p17, par.3

Plato's View of Love

"lovers are brave soldiers, as they seek to prove themselves before each other or to rescue each other from danger." - Plato, The Ancient Mediterranean World, Page 92

People are meant to be with each other because of the fact that they truly care for one another. Plato says he condemned love based mainly on sexual desire but praised its moral, intellectual, and spiritual aspects. Although he thought this way, sex is a component of love that isn't a bad thing. Love itself though shouldn't be solely based on sex.

"Give me some light"

I thought about Claudius's quote from Hamlet, how he wanted to see the light, when he was overcome by his guilt. In the case of Hamlet, however, the "light" is a very dark thing, and some type of distraction from it would be the light Claudius was referring to.

What I thought of is the metaphor for light as smarts -- someone who is bright vs. someone who is dim. Just an interesting thought to tie intelligence into the truth concept, because both Hamlet and Claudius were what we would call bright -- conversational wizards. There exists a contrast between they and the rest of the cast, for example, Polonius, who is dim, and would have a hard time seeing the light.

State of mind

"...for nothing contributes so much to tranquillise the mind as a steady purpose--a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye."
Robert Walton in Frankenstein, Letter 1.
Mary Shelley

I picked this quote because I was reading the book so steadily; not very involved in the reading, until this quote caught my eye. I agree with this quote.
Slowly working at something you know will eventually be great because of all your time and effort really is tranquillising (tranquilising? I always thought there was only one "L"). I've been working on a painting since the beginning of December, and I experience the same tranquillity every time I work on it.

The Wisest Don't Have to Know the Most

"Wisdom begins in wonder" - Socrates

This quote is 100% true. Yes, we can all know hard facts and can reproduce them, but the people who marvel and interpret life itself are the wisest.

The Model Forensic Speech

"I have said enough in answer to the charge of Meletus: any elaborate defence is unnecessary; but as I was saying before, I certainly have many enemies, and this is what will be my destruction if I am destroyed; of that I am certain; - not Meletus, nor yet Anytus, but the envy and detraction of the world, which has been the death of many good men, and will probably be the death of many more; there is no danger of my being the last of them. "

Socrates does not attempt to seduce or confuse his audience. He instead tries to give them the facts as clearly and concisely as possible, so that they may decide how to treat him based upon their own morals and values, as opposed to their emotions.
Socrates was a surprisingly humble man. He was much wiser than many of the greatest people of his time, yet he still knew that he knew nothing at all. He constantly sought after the true essence of things, rather than just accepting something that was less than perfect and true.
He knows that he is a good man but he also knows that he does not matter that much. there will be many more good men to come.

Reflection of the Human Life

Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. We are, and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in this world: but the time will soon come when, I trust we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain, - the impalpable principle of life and though, pure as when it left the Creator to inspire the creature: whence it came it will return; perhaps again to be communicated to some being higher than man - perhaps to pass through gradations of glory, from the pale human soul to brighten to the seraph!
-Helen Burns, Jane Eyre, p70

Importance of Humans

"Man is the measure of all things." - Protagoras, The Ancient Mediterranean World

Humans are like all other species on the earth except for the fact that we can express our feelings in multiple ways through the use of our highly specialized brains. Yes, we can compare ourselves to animals, but the difference is huge. Similarly to what Mr.Johnston said, nothing on the earth is like a human being. We are too different and we have the capacity to not only excel, but to destroy ourselves as well. We are life forms that can do almost impossible things because we are so specialized.

Spartan (Wo)men

"Spartan women were famous (or notorious) for having more freedom than the women of other cities. Ancient sources record with amazement that girls recieved an education similar to that of boys, emphasizing physical training and dancing, and even exercised naked like boys...Unlike women at Athens, many Spartan women owned land. "

Sparta was a culture far ahead of its time in countless ways, from its military and social tactics to the role of women in their society. Women were very much the equals of men in Sparta. Spartan men realized that there were many things at which women excelled and could do most things almost as well as the men. women were even allowed to live independantly of men, and often, when the men were in the barracks, they would have to live by themselves, taking care of the houses and children.