A Quote by Jean Francois Revel

Clearly, a civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does will lack the energy and conviction to defend itself. — © Jean Francois Revel
Clearly, a civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does will lack the energy and conviction to defend itself.
It is commonly said that if rational argument is so seldom the cause of conviction, philosophical apologists must largely be wasting their shot. The premise is true, but the conclusion does not follow. For though argument does not create conviction, the lack of it destroys belief. What seems to be proved may not be embraced; but what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish.
A society that does not defend itself is doomed. A system that remains passive in the face of attack deserves to go under. Those unwilling to defend freedom will become unfree. To stand idly by is to commit suicide.
Defend the Bible? I would as soon defend a lion! Unchain it and it will defend itself.
The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.
Everything is energy. All matter is energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It is the cause and affect of itself. It is evenly present in all places, at all times. Energy is in constant motion and never rests. It is forever moving from one form to another. Energy follows thought.
We oppose the death penalty not just for what it does to those guilty of heinous crimes, but for what it does to all of us: It offers the tragic illusiion that we can defend life by taking life.
The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.
A man may lack everything but tact and conviction and still be a forcible speaker; but without these nothing will avail... Fluency, grace, logical order, and the like, are merely the decorative surface of oratory.
Everything looks beautiful. The Book of Shhh says that deliria alters your perception, disables your ability to reason clearly, impairs you from making sound judgments. But it does not tell you this: that love will turn the whole world into something greater than itself.
My conviction is that the best strategy to defend the West is to defend Israel.
We're headed for what is called Type 1 Civilization, planetary civilization. Type 2 would be stellar civilization, like Star Trek. Type 3 Civilization would be galactic, like Star Wars. We are Type 0. We get our energy from dead plants, oil and coal. But the question is: Will we make it? Will we make the transition from Type 0 to Type 1? It's not clear.
It is easy to defend the innocent; but who is eloquent enough to defend the guilty?
I think Donald Trump does want a result. He clearly, in the meeting that we had was trying to sort of push the process along, realizing that the Senate has a role to play and that there are differences of opinion. I think he wants it to be a health care plan, proposal that we can go out there and defend and that he can defend and argue for to the American people.
Nuclear is the single greatest threat. Just to go down the list, we defend Japan, we defend Germany, we defend South Korea, we defend Saudi Arabia, we defend countries. They do not pay us. But they should be paying us, because we are providing tremendous service and we're losing a fortune. That's why we're losing - we're losing - we lose on everything. I say, who makes these - we lose on everything.
You better be able to defend it after the attack - so don't stretch it. In other words, if the guy's guilty of A and B, don't make him guilty of A, B, and C. That's what a lot of people do.
A nuclear war does not defend a country and it does not defend a system. I've put it the same way many times; not even the most accomplished ideologue will be able to tell the difference between the ashes of capitalism and the ashes of communism.
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