In a dying civilization, political prestige is the reward not of the shrewdest diagnostician, but of the man with the best bedside manner.
Eric AmblerRead
Good' did not triumph. 'Evil' did not triumph. The two resolved, destroyed each other and created new 'evils', new 'goods' which slew each other in their turn.
Interpretation
The conflict between good and evil is cyclical, leading to the emergence of new forms of both.
This quote by Eric Ambler suggests that the struggle between good and evil is not a straightforward victory for one over the other. Instead, their constant clash leads to the birth of new forms of good and evil, creating a cycle where each gives rise to the other, implying that moral struggles are complex and ongoing rather than definitive or final.
In practice
During a debate on moral philosophy, one could use this quote to illustrate the complexities of good and evil.
In a dying civilization, political prestige is the reward not of the shrewdest diagnostician, but of the man with the best bedside manner.
Occasionally the conflict between 'what we stand for' and 'what we do' has been forthrightly addressed.
Lying under an acacia tree with the sound of the dawn around me, I realized more clearly the facts that man should never overlook: that the construction of an airplane, for instance, is simple when compared [with] a bird; that airplanes depend on an advanced civilization, and that were civilization is most advanced, few birds exist. I realized that If I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes.
Gentlemen, welcome to the world of reality β there is no audience. No one to applaud, to admire. No one to see you. Do you understand? Here is the truth β actual heroism receives no ovation, entertains no one. No one queues up to see it. No one is interested.
To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.
When you look at a guy like a Jay-Z or look at a guy like a Nas, you don't necessarily qualify them as conscious rap purely, although they are extremely conscious of the social inequities that prevail.
Justification by religious performances, and meritorious deeds, is nothing better than the old Pharisaism with a Christian name stuck upon it. . . That doctrine makes the Lord Jesus Christ to be practically a nobody; for if salvation be of works, then the way of salvation through faith in a Savior is superfluous, and even mischievous
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