From: Richard L. Pitman
Columbus
While reading a book by David Horowitz I was intrigued by his inclusion of a quote from Abraham Lincoln.
“At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer: If it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time, or die by suicide,” Lincoln said in his Lyceum Address in 1838.
In light of the current animosity in politics and government decisions and the tribal nature of interaction, I find these words stimulate appropriate introspection into our motivation and desires.
For me, it is easier to make a parallel comparison to our national love of sports; the need for winners and losers with little if any tolerance for ties. And, we all want to be on the winning side.
There is an old saying; “It is the love of money, not money itself, that is evil.” Perhaps it can be paraphrased to — It is the love of power but not power itself that is detrimental to motives and actions.
It is hard, but I try to be optimistic. If all would be introspective of our desires and beliefs and give some commitment to the philosophy of “seek first to understand rather than to be understood,” perhaps at least some of the anger and animosity in all of us would be dampened.
