Chapter Sixty Seven: The Pleas in Politics

The darkest places in hell are reserved for those people who maintain neutrality in times of moral crisis.

Dante Alghieri

 

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

Aristotle

A fool and his money are soon elected.

Will Rogers

I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office.

Thomas Jefferson

I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Hear us then, O divine, the source of power,

Let us not dwell in division to gain prowess,

Let us not be deceived by politicians,

Of choices, or fervor, or favor from them.

We have seen how it corrupts,

There is no greater revelation it hides,

Such a skill, such a plea of avoidance,

That politics that now shows in this instance.

But we act, we share what we have known,

This knowledge we have acquired,

What was shown, what was hidden,

Good or evil, there is no other choice.

Give us this gracious sword, then!

Messiah, give us the means, the strength,

Let us battle with grace!

Allow us to learn such good ways.

We may not know everything,

But this plea we must make,

That we may need to be governed,

Maybe a king, to say what we need to say!

O politics, what a treachery ever invented!

May we see what is hidden beneath,

That absolute power corrupts,

And politics is the most convenient means.

Song of St Gabriel

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Picture from Pixabay.