There are so many good people who are running for political office this year who have been saying inspiring things in recent days that quite a few recent $27 Quotes diaries have been exclusively filled with quotes from candidates. So let’s start tonight’s diary with a quote from someone who isn’t a candidate this year…
Ooh! Let’s go even farther, and start with a quote which isn’t from a political candidate and which isn’t from this year…
As I reflect on the enormous amount of good work that is left undone, I cannot but say a word and look my disapproval when I hear that my country is spending millions for war and war engines -- more, I have heard, than twice as much as the entire public school system costs the nation.
The problem spoken about in that quote — bloated, excessive military spending — is still with us. But that quote is actually more than 100 years old. It’s something which Helen Keller wrote in an article for the November 1903 Ladies Home Journal. (There’s a transcript here if you’d like to read the entire article.)
And if you’d like to read more about Helen Keller, there’s an excellent diary about Helen Keller, Socialist and Political Activist, which posted earlier today. If you haven’t already seen that diary, please click the link and go read and rec it now. These quotes will still be here when you get back, along with some music and another picture or two of Noble Fur which you can enjoy at your leisure.