I was just about to post the Pastor Martin Niemöller quote, but John beat me to it. The Gandhi quote that John posted is the positive side. But Pastor Niemöller graphically illustrates what happens when you remain passive and apathetic in the face of those who feel it's perfectly all right to try to deny the civil rights of others.

I posted a link to information about Aung San Suu Kyi above, but here is some more:   CLICKY.

She had the bad judgment to speak out against the forces of repression. And she has been back in the news during the past week or two. Wouldn't life have been easier for her if she had not written what she wrote and just generally kept her mouth shut? Or said, "I don't want to get involved?"

Speaking of quotes, here's a good comment by the great newsman Edward R. Murrow:
If none of us ever read a book that was "dangerous," had a friend who was "different," or joined an organization that advocated "change," we would all be the kind of people Joe McCarthy wants.

And from Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.:
For most Americans, the Constitution has become a hazy document, cited like the Bible on ceremonial occasions, but forgotten in the daily transactions of life.

Think about it.

Don Firth