justification

Link	Quote	Tags	Author
94a2059	I never made a mistake in my life; at least, never one that I couldn't explain away afterwards.	pretexts justification mistakes	Rudyard Kipling
d6f62b6	From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.	religion god inhumanity extremism justification fanaticism zealotry	Salman Rushdie
266d03b	There were a lot of gods. Gods always come in handy, they justify almost anything.	religion god inhumanity extremism justification fanaticism	Margaret Atwood
52ec8be	Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious. In fact, 'atheism' is a term that should not even exist. No one needs to identify himself as a 'non-astrologer' or a 'non-alchemist.' We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.	humor philosophy elvis-presley religious-beliefs galaxy justification atheism atheist elvis obvious	Sam Harris
b323994	[P]erhaps you notice how the denial is so often the preface to the justification.	lies justification torture	Christopher Hitchens
bb119d4	"The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land, to add something to the extent and the solidity of our possessions. And even a cursory glance at the history of the biological sciences during the last quarter of a century is sufficient to justify the assertion, that the most potent instrument for the extension of the realm of natural knowledge which has come into men's hands, since the publication of	metaphor history science illimitable inexplicability principia solidity origin-of-species possessions intellectual business biology charles-darwin goal justification darwin infinite knowledge ocean isaac-newton newton unknown	Thomas Henry Huxley
81a2528	After so many years even the fire of passion dies, and with it what was believed the light of the truth. Who of us is able to say now whether Hector or Achilles was right, Agamemnon or Priam, when they fought over the beauty of a woman who is now dust and ashes?	war passion past truth troy passage-of-time justification iliad mythology right homer	Umberto Eco
849bb45	The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.	human-rights nations foundations revolt justice-system justification nation	Martin Luther King Jr.
b1f46f4	Harsh justice is still justice.	reality justice-system justification	George R.R. Martin
b597f18	Our guilt has its uses. It justifies much in the lives of others.	self-righteousness justification	Max Frisch
6955628	Sometimes I think the urge to believe in our own worldview is our most powerful intellectual imperative, the mind's equivalent of feeding, fighting, and fornicating. People will eagerly twist facts into wholly unrecognizable shapes to fit them into existing suppositions. They'll ignore the obvious, select the irrelevant, and spin it all into a tapestry of self-deception, solely to justify an idea, no matter how impoverished or self-destructive.	manipulation-of-facts self-destruction justification perspective ignorance	Barry Eisler
71f125c	When we kill people, we feel compelled to pretend that it is for some higher cause. It is this pretence of virtue, I promise you, that will never be forgiven by history.	killing history justification	Shashi Tharoor
bfb5bdb	In short, an astonishingly broad spectrum of theologies of justification existed in the later medieval period, encompassing practically every option that had not been specifically condemned as heretical by the Council of Carthage. In the absence of any definitive magisterial pronouncement concerning which of these options (or even what range of options) could be considered authentically catholic, it was left to each theologian to reach his own decision in this matter. A self-perpetuating doctrinal pluralism was thus an inevitability.	christianity reformation justification theology	Alister E. McGrath
44e12b5	The author compares the struggles of Martin Luther with the prevailing doctrine that a little genuine effort on our part results in a disproportionate reward of God's righteousness with a blind man who would be given $1 million - if only he could see.	righteousness justification	Alister E. McGrath
0369e87	After years of working with missionaries, I am tempted to conclude that their endeavors merely prolong a dying race's agonies for ten or twenty years. The merciful plowman shoots a trusty horse grown too old for service. As philanthropists, might it not be our duty to likewise ameliorate the savages' sufferings by hastening their extinction? Think of your Red Indians, Adam, think on the treaties you Americans abrogate & renege on, time & time & time again. More humane, surely & more honest, just to knock the savages on the head & get it over with?	racism justifying-genocide justifying-murder oppressors indigenous-peoples missionaries justification genocide	David Mitchell

94a2059

I never made a mistake in my life; at least, never one that I couldn't explain away afterwards.

Rudyard Kipling

d6f62b6

From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.

religion god inhumanity extremism justification fanaticism zealotry

Salman Rushdie

266d03b

There were a lot of gods. Gods always come in handy, they justify almost anything.

religion god inhumanity extremism justification fanaticism

Margaret Atwood

52ec8be

Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious. In fact, 'atheism' is a term that should not even exist. No one needs to identify himself as a 'non-astrologer' or a 'non-alchemist.' We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.

humor philosophy elvis-presley religious-beliefs galaxy justification atheism atheist elvis obvious

Sam Harris

b323994

[P]erhaps you notice how the denial is so often the preface to the justification.

lies justification torture

Christopher Hitchens

bb119d4

"The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land, to add something to the extent and the solidity of our possessions. And even a cursory glance at the history of the biological sciences during the last quarter of a century is sufficient to justify the assertion, that the most potent instrument for the extension of the realm of natural knowledge which has come into men's hands, since the publication of

metaphor history science illimitable inexplicability principia solidity origin-of-species possessions intellectual business biology charles-darwin goal justification darwin infinite knowledge ocean isaac-newton newton unknown

Thomas Henry Huxley

81a2528

After so many years even the fire of passion dies, and with it what was believed the light of the truth. Who of us is able to say now whether Hector or Achilles was right, Agamemnon or Priam, when they fought over the beauty of a woman who is now dust and ashes?

war passion past truth troy passage-of-time justification iliad mythology right homer

Umberto Eco

849bb45

The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

human-rights nations foundations revolt justice-system justification nation

Martin Luther King Jr.

b1f46f4

Harsh justice is still justice.

reality justice-system justification

George R.R. Martin

b597f18

Our guilt has its uses. It justifies much in the lives of others.

self-righteousness justification

Max Frisch

6955628

Sometimes I think the urge to believe in our own worldview is our most powerful intellectual imperative, the mind's equivalent of feeding, fighting, and fornicating. People will eagerly twist facts into wholly unrecognizable shapes to fit them into existing suppositions. They'll ignore the obvious, select the irrelevant, and spin it all into a tapestry of self-deception, solely to justify an idea, no matter how impoverished or self-destructive.

manipulation-of-facts self-destruction justification perspective ignorance

Barry Eisler

71f125c

When we kill people, we feel compelled to pretend that it is for some higher cause. It is this pretence of virtue, I promise you, that will never be forgiven by history.

killing history justification

Shashi Tharoor

bfb5bdb

In short, an astonishingly broad spectrum of theologies of justification existed in the later medieval period, encompassing practically every option that had not been specifically condemned as heretical by the Council of Carthage. In the absence of any definitive magisterial pronouncement concerning which of these options (or even what range of options) could be considered authentically catholic, it was left to each theologian to reach his own decision in this matter. A self-perpetuating doctrinal pluralism was thus an inevitability.

christianity reformation justification theology

Alister E. McGrath

44e12b5

The author compares the struggles of Martin Luther with the prevailing doctrine that a little genuine effort on our part results in a disproportionate reward of God's righteousness with a blind man who would be given $1 million - if only he could see.

righteousness justification

Alister E. McGrath

0369e87

After years of working with missionaries, I am tempted to conclude that their endeavors merely prolong a dying race's agonies for ten or twenty years. The merciful plowman shoots a trusty horse grown too old for service. As philanthropists, might it not be our duty to likewise ameliorate the savages' sufferings by hastening their extinction? Think of your Red Indians, Adam, think on the treaties you Americans abrogate & renege on, time & time & time again. More humane, surely & more honest, just to knock the savages on the head & get it over with?

racism justifying-genocide justifying-murder oppressors indigenous-peoples missionaries justification genocide

David Mitchell