There are two flames burning

Posted on August 27 2014

I offered a quotation from one famous politician on being liked yesterday. It was negatively cast. So let's have a positive alternative:

"..You see there are two flames burning in the human heart all the time. The flame of anger against injustice, and the flame of hope you can build a better world. And my job at 83 is going round and fanning both flames...because people need encouragement. Everyone needs encouragement if you're going to do the best you can."

The quotation is from Tony Benn, made in December 2008 when being interviewed by Sir David Frost Show on BBC One.

 

 

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5 Responses

  1. James Mac says:
    August 27 2014 at 8:43 am

    Thank you. That helps.

  2. Richard Blaber says:
    August 28 2014 at 9:17 am

    Not every human heart, alas. There are some human hearts that seem to have no fire in them except a fire of hate. There are others that are seemingly utterly indifferent to injustice, completely unmoved by suffering, strangers to empathy and compassion for their fellow human beings. Some of them are even regular commentators on this blog!

    Naturally, they are no socialists, and worship at the shrine of the late Margaret Thatcher. Unfortunately, her dogmas have come to dominate our politics, to such an extent that all the mainstream political parties – UKIP, the Tories, the Liberal Democrats, and even Labour, are now wholly in thrall to them. May God forgive them, and have mercy on us all!

  3. Richard Blaber says:
    August 28 2014 at 10:01 am

    According to Simon Baron-Cohen’s ‘Extreme Male Brain Theory’ of Autism, people like me with Asperger Syndrome aren’t supposed to have much in the way of empathy. As I pointed out to the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative the other day, my problem is not that I have no empathy, but that I have too much of it. If I didn’t ‘switch it off’ occasionally, it would drive me stark mad!