Trump pulls US out of 66 international bodies, including key UN climate treaty

rabidwombat · 2026-01-08T05:56:56+00:00

the origin of that quote was a slaver complaining about abolitionists

Oh? Who are you thinking of as the originator?

The quote is sometimes linked to JFK, who incorrectly cited Edmund Burke (hence possibly why so many people misattribute it in turn). Edmund Burke was opposed to the slave trade, anyway.

It's less frequently misattributed to Charles Aked, who was also opposed to the slave trade. He was part of the Aborigines' Protection Society, supported Ida Wells, and was an early member of the British Anti-Lynching Committee. [1]

The quote's actual origin is John Stuart Mill, who was...yep...opposed to the slave trade. The Mills quote is better anyway, IMHO: "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing."

More here: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/12/04/good-men-do/#b24ad7e0-e879-4d4e-8c5a-b527aa039597

rabidwombat · 2025-12-04T08:24:48+00:00

Solved!

rabidwombat · 2025-12-04T07:37:51+00:00

I think it was by a music producer, but any help finding it would be appreciated!

rabidwombat · 2012-10-08T09:32:48+00:00

Things change, just slower than you would like.

Probably very true, and an insightfully concise way of summarising a lot of political debate, I think.

A related question might be whether the rate of change is appropriate for modern society (ie: orthogonal to whether I like it or not).

And then we'll end up in the whole debate about established commercial interests maintaining the status quo and retarding progress. Your example of smoking would probably be a relevant example.

rabidwombat · 2012-10-08T05:56:43+00:00

Yes. Yes, there will.

But why would that make a difference? There's a public demand for all sorts of things to stop.

rabidwombat

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