Charles Hampden-Turner Quote: "It is in vain that we search for an essential ..."

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It is in vain that we search for an essential difference between good and evil, for their constituents are the same. The crucial distinction lies in their structure, i.e., the manner in which the pieces are assembled. Evil is disintegration, an angry juxtaposition of alienated opposites, with parts always striving to repress other parts. Good is the synthesis and reconciliation of these same pieces.
Charles Hampden-Turner /
Differences
Lying
Opposites
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It is in vain that we search for an essential difference between good and evil, for their constituents are the same. The crucial distinction lies in their structure, i.e., the manner in which the pieces are assembled. Evil is disintegration, an angry juxtaposition of alienated opposites, with parts always striving to repress other parts. Good is the synthesis and reconciliation of these same pieces.
⇛ Charles Hampden-Turner ()

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What if the book (of Genesis) is describing a dawning awareness of the world? The anthropologist Edmund Leach has argued that the 'bit' or binary digit is the basic unit of pre-logical communication. Genesis is a sprouting of 'bits', ie elementary binary distinctions.

Charles Hampden-Turner

If an instrument similar to a geiger-counter could be invented that counted moral judgements instead, we would learn to duck as people became increasingly 'moral', since lethal force is usually imminent. So far from moral fervour being an alternative to force, it is frequently the overture, the accompaniment and the memorial to it.

Charles Hampden-Turner

It's not good to make sentimental journeys. You see the differences instead of the sameness.

Mary Astor Film Actress

People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.

Theodore Roosevelt 26th U.S. President

Go! Go! Go! It makes no difference where, just so you go! go! go! Remember, at the first opportunity, go!

Jeannette Rankin U.S. Congressperson

The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it. Between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past. Between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists.