In peace sons bury fathers, but war violates the order of nature, and fathers bury sons.
Interpretation
War disrupts the natural order of life and death, reversing the expected roles of parents and children.
This quote by Herodotus reflects on the tragic consequences of war, emphasizing how it alters the natural progression of life where typically, parents pass before their children. In peaceful circumstances, it is natural for sons to bury their fathers, but the devastation of war leads to the unnatural scenario where fathers must bury their sons, highlighting the deep sorrow and disruption caused by conflict.
In practice
In a speech advocating for peace, this quote can underscore the devastating impacts of war.
The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.
The man who has planned badly, if fortune is on his side, may have had a stroke of luck; but his plan was a bad one nonetheless.
Men trust their ears less than their eyes.
Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.
The worst pain a man can have is to know much and be impotent to act.
All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.
What will die with me the day I die? What pathetic or frail image will be lost to the world? The voice of Macedonio Fernandez, the image of a bay horse in a vacant lot on the corner of Sarrano and Charcas, a bar of sulfur in the drawer of a mahogany desk?
We have to build the Republic of Heaven where we are, because for us there is no elsewhere.
There are no experts in the company of Jesus. We are all beginners, necessarily followers, because we donβt know where we are going.
I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal--as we are!
Multiculturalism isn't just a buzzword; it's not just something to debate - I am multiculturalism.
We are completely unaware of our true nature because we identify ourselves with our body, our emotions and our thoughts, thus losing sight of our unchanging centre, which is pure consciousness. When we return to our true nature, our thoughts and perceptions no longer appear as modifications of a single substance, they come into being and subside like waves of the ocean.
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