Thursday, September 30, 2010

Quotes of the Day: Thoreau and C.S. Lewis on Busybody Do-Gooders

Straight out of Walden comes this timeless observation by Henry David Thoreau:
If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.
This is very much in line with what C.S. Lewis said:
Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
TRUE DAT.

2 comments:

Ray Dixon said...

These quotes are specifically applicable to the post by Richard Nikoley at Free the Animal on the consequences of medical ignorance that he posted the other day.

lumpy said...

Not only with the approval, but with the requirement of their own conscience. *shudder*