#sol

I find something repulsive about the idea of vicarious redemption. I would not throw my numberless sins onto a scapegoat and expect them to pass from me; we rightly sneer at the barbaric societies that practice this unpleasantness in its literal form. There's no moral value in the vicarious gesture anyway. As Thomas Paine pointed out, you may if you wish take on a another man's debt, or even to take his place in prison. That would be self-sacrificing. But you may not assume his actual crimes as if they were your own; for one thing you did not commit them and might have died rather than do so; for another this impossible action would rob him of individual responsibility. So the whole apparatus of absolution and forgiveness strikes me as positively immoral, while the concept of revealed truth degrades the concept of free intelligence by purportedly relieving us of the hard task of working out the ethical principles for ourselves. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#forgiveness #immorality #redemption #religion #responsibility

The World will always need "magic". Without it, Life is nothing but cheap tricks. ↗

— Solange nicole

#life #magic #mystery-of-life #solange #life

A few regular troops from old France, weakened by hunger and sickness, who, when fresh, were unable to withstand the British soldiers, are their general's chief dependence. ↗

— James Wolfe

#chief #dependence #few #france #fresh

I congratulate you, my brave countrymen and fellow soldiers, on the spirit and success with which you have executed this important part of our enterprise. ↗

— James Wolfe

#congratulate #countrymen #enterprise #executed #fellow

Possessed with a full confidence of the certain success which British valor must gain over such enemies, I have led you up these steep and dangerous rocks, only solicitous to show you the foe within your reach. ↗

— James Wolfe

#certain #confidence #dangerous #foe #full

The impossibility of a retreat makes no difference in the situation of men resolved to conquer or die; and, believe me, my friends, if your conquest could be bought with the blood of your general, he would most cheerfully resign a life which he has long devoted to his country. ↗

— James Wolfe

#blood #bought #cheerfully #conquer #conquest

History is just littered with problems that were solved that were supposed to be impossible. ↗

— Paul Wolfowitz

#impossible #just #littered #problems #solved

Let women issue a declaration of independence sexually, and absolutely refuse to cohabit with men until they are acknowledged as equals in everything, and the victory would be won in a single week. ↗

— Victoria Woodhull

#acknowledged #declaration #equals #everything #independence

I sold my most valuable possession, but I knew that because I worked at Hewlett Packard, I could buy the next model calculator the very next month for a lower price than I sold the older one for! ↗

— Steve Wozniak

#buy #calculator #could #i #knew

That was' one time when my technique absolutely deserted me, I must admit. There was a wax face that he had created himself to cover his own ugliness. I was in his clutches and I had to hit him in the face. ↗

— Fay Wray

#admit #clutches #cover #created #deserted