Could I anticipate the enmity of those for whom I encountered such opposition? If they had been willing, I should have gained the victory. But the head faints when it is abandoned by the other members. If they had been wise they would have seen that in attacking me they were attacking their own privileges and serving princes to their own servitude.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the consequences of opposition and the folly of attacking one's own interests.
Thomas Becket's quote delves into the dynamics of conflict and cooperation, suggesting that when individuals or groups oppose others without understanding the bigger picture, they ultimately harm their own interests. Becket highlights how unity and wisdom are essential for true success, and that those who fail to see the interconnectedness of their actions risk serving oppressive powers at the expense of their own freedoms.
In practice
In a speech about collaborative efforts in the workplace, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of unity.
It is important that the Church of London, which has now lost its ruler, should receive for its new bishop a man whose personal merit, attainments in learning, and prudence in managing public business shall not be unworthy of the dignity of that see.
I am ready to die for my Lord, that in my blood the Church may obtain liberty and peace.
The more I loved the king, the more I opposed his injustice until his brow fell lowering upon me. He heaped calumny after calumny on my head, and I chose to be driven out rather than to subscribe.
Whosoever wisely examines the works of God will speedily discover what is next to be done.
The rashness of the persecutor hath overspread the rights of the persecuted so that punishment is awarded to him that has gained the victory, the inglorious triumphs, and the man who deserved bonds has carried off the prize.
In truth, we have delayed to pass sentence on the person of our lord the king, waiting, if perhaps he may, by God's grace, repent; but we will pass it ere long unless he does repent.
However much you feed a wolf, it always looks to the forest. We are all wolves of the dense forest of Eternity.
The truth, of course, is that the only necessary and sufficient condition for human beings to murder one another is the simple fact of being human.
Memory is the seamstress, and a capricious one at that. Memory runs her needle in and out, up and down, hither and thither. We know not what comes next, or what follows after. Thus, the most ordinary movement in the world, such as sitting down at a table and pulling the inkstand towards one, may agitate a thousand odd, disconnected fragments, now bright, now dim, hanging and bobbing and dipping and flaunting, like the underlinen of a family of fourteen on a line in a gale of wind.
Zombies are a great rhetorical prop to talk about people and paranoia, and they are a good vehicle for my misanthropy.
It would be so much better if we could share our insecurity, if we could all venture inside ourselves and realize that green beans and vitamin C, however much they nurture us, cannot save lives, or sustain our souls.
Give us that grand word 'woman' once again, and let's have done with 'lady'; one's a term full of fine force, strong, beautiful, and firm, fit for the noblest use of tongue or pen; and one's a word for lackeys.
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