Elton One

Who but a stupid barbarian could burn so much beauty in his stove
and destroy that which he cannot make?
Man is endowed with reason and the power to create, so that he may
increase that which has been given him, but until now
he has not created, but demolished.
The forests are disappearing, the rivers are running dry,
the game is exterminated, the climate is spoiled,
and the earth becomes poorer and uglier every day.

An excerpt from the play Uncle Vanya by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov published in 1889.

[Taken from the Gutenberg Project translation from Russian to English by Marian Fell in 1913].

This originally started as a post solely for this quote (as I think it is very evocative) but upon realising the quotes relevance not only to UK and worldwide stances on how people live on and with the earth, but specifically with the rate of deforestation in Anton Chekhov’s home country of Russian I feel I should expand.  Learn more here: http://www-pub.naz.edu:9000/~jwitten2/about2.htm

A quote from City Rail official Adam Wickleberry in relation to http://www.rmk.com.au/news/news15.html

Found a good quote today:

Holocaust memorial in Boston, with an adapted version of the quote.

Original version preferred by Niemöller (and myself):

“In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;

And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”

Martin Niemöller, 1946

There is a lot you can get out of it, not only by placing it in it’s historical context but by applying it to more recent events too. The US Patriot Act for one, the shut down of tv-links.co.uk (and broader legal implications) and subsequent lack of reaction from it’s users, and of course British anti-terrorist legislation; three examples where the underlying message against political apathy can be seen clearly. We all deep down know what is right and what is wrong but a lot of the time we over ride that, and I’m not talking just politically. Even worse we refuse to accept or discuss those things that are bad because we know they are bad, but it’s so much to deal with we’d rather forget about it and flip the channel. It’s a reminder to me not to be ignorant or complacent and to base my actions on what is right and not what is convenient; to say when something is not right and take action. I try but not enough. Part of the problem, or part of the solution at the end of the day.