Great quote! I had never thought of it that way before. It definitely explains his reaction to Frodo when he tried to give him the ring.
It's interesting to think about how so much of the evil that happens in the world is done by people who truly think they are doing what's best. The terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 all thought they were doing God's work. The communists thought they were creating a great egalitarian society. Even the nazis thought what they were doing was best for society. The idea that most evil is done by people who laugh maniacally to themselves as they boast about how evil they are is really something more out of hollywood than reality. :-)
And it's a lesson we should all learn from, since it seems like most of us think we know what's best for others! :-) Far too often we don't recognize our own failings, and how flawed our own views must be (since no one will ever really have a perfect idea of how things should be). It should teach us all a lesson in humility.
BTW, I'm almost done with Irony of American History. I'm going to try and post a review of it once I'm done.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-08-07 12:08 am (UTC)It's interesting to think about how so much of the evil that happens in the world is done by people who truly think they are doing what's best. The terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 all thought they were doing God's work. The communists thought they were creating a great egalitarian society. Even the nazis thought what they were doing was best for society. The idea that most evil is done by people who laugh maniacally to themselves as they boast about how evil they are is really something more out of hollywood than reality. :-)
And it's a lesson we should all learn from, since it seems like most of us think we know what's best for others! :-) Far too often we don't recognize our own failings, and how flawed our own views must be (since no one will ever really have a perfect idea of how things should be). It should teach us all a lesson in humility.
BTW, I'm almost done with Irony of American History. I'm going to try and post a review of it once I'm done.