Heinlein, was:[NCLUG] Sigs, was:Re: NCLUG LinkedIn Group

[Brian Wood]

Chad Perrin wrote:

> A close runner-up is:
> 
>   An armed society is a polite society.
> 
> Sadly, that last one is very commonly misunderstood as evoking a sort of
> population of Dirty Harry types you're afraid to offend, when the obvious
> meaning of it to one who takes the time to consider the matter is more
> related to the personal responsibility and discipline that comes from
> taking on the burden of self defense as a matter of maturity.  In other
> words, it was more a comment on the infantilizing power of the State than
> a humorous reference to the danger of calling an armed man a murderer for
> carrying a firearm.
> 
> Of course, there's always the humor of the irony in that.  If he really
> *was* a murderer at heart, he'd have the means to prove it -- and if you
> call him such when he's armed, you obviously don't actually believe that
> of him, unless you have a death wish.
> 

I believe Owen Wister put that quite succinctly:

"When you call me that, smile"

And one of my favorites (from Prof's mouth of course):

"But if you *really* believe that your neighbors must have laws for
their own good, why shouldn't *you* pay for it?"

and

"There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does
not want merely because *you* think it would be good for him".

beww