I have tried to find the origin of this quote: "We become that which we despise." with no success so far. Do any of you know? I will continue to search, I may answer my own question? :wink:
I am not sure if I should tell you or should we wait for Walter Hinteler because I am sure he would be glad to inform you about that one
But, maybe Walter is busy today and you are probably very curious, so...Johann Wolfgang Goethe said that, famous german poet and writer
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dlowan
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Mon 10 May, 2004 02:47 am
Hmm - seems it may be Shakespeare - through Portia in "The Merchant of Venice".
Just exploring further:
"Men of war have long known that warriors must often abandon those verities they defend. Peace, human kindness, love... for they hold no meaning to the enemy. And so, to win, do we become what we despise... and despise what we become?"
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dlowan
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Mon 10 May, 2004 02:51 am
Hmmm - not so sure now!!!!!!
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MyOwnUsername
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Mon 10 May, 2004 02:52 am
well who knows dlowan - maybe Goethe was paraphrasing Shakespeare
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dlowan
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Mon 10 May, 2004 02:53 am
Aaaaaaaaaah!
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dlowan
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Mon 10 May, 2004 02:55 am
Hmmmm - I am by no means sure. I got the quote joined with "The Quality of mercy" - which I equate, of course, with Portia.
However, further searching did NOT come up with anything - and I am too lazy to read "The Merchant" right now!
Goethe sounds damned fine to me.
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Sam1951
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Mon 10 May, 2004 12:08 pm
Checked " The Quality of Mercy", and Gothe no dice so far. I'm still hunting. Do I need a license ? :wink:
Sam
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MyOwnUsername
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Mon 10 May, 2004 03:30 pm
now you made me do google
funny thing is that I found only this link where Fidel Castro is quoting Goethe
I googled the quote + Goethe, and I did find some results suggesting that he did write the line. BUT: none of the results looked reliable enough for me to feel certain about that. After all, we can't believe everything that shows up on Google...
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MyOwnUsername
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Mon 10 May, 2004 03:49 pm
well I am just tiny level above it I heard before that it was Goethe's quote, but I haven't heard HIM specifically saying it, nor did I read it in some of his works.
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Walter Hinteler
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Mon 10 May, 2004 04:25 pm
I tried it in German (actually, I don't know "my" Goethe well enough to remember more than a couple of verses :wink: ), but I could find it this way neither.
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Sam1951
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Tue 11 May, 2004 04:37 pm
The quarry is in sight
Neither Gothe nor Shakespear but from the Bible! I am still not sure but, the quarry is in sight. Here is what I found: at: http://donavanhall.net/2003/angler3-04.shtml (looks like an interesting site)
QUOTE]``resist not evil.'' For in resisting evil we become that which we despise the most." [/QUOTE]
Now I need to dig out my King James in order to track it to it's lair. If in the mean time anyone has a Bible handy I would not mind the help.
Along with many other versions. A key word search might turn up results--would do it myself but my allotted web time for the evening is up.
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Sam1951
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Tue 11 May, 2004 05:56 pm
Greyfan
No luck with any of the versions there. This is becoming annoying. I want who ever originated that quote to own up to it right now! It is a good quote.
Sam
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Peter S
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Wed 12 May, 2004 10:18 pm
There is a side where the entire work of Goethe is stored in German language. http://jamila.en.kyushu-u.ac.jp/corpus/
But I didn't find the searched text in any translation. Therefor I'd say the excerpt wasn't written by Goethe.
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Sam1951
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Wed 12 May, 2004 10:25 pm
I agree.
Sam
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MyOwnUsername
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Thu 13 May, 2004 12:16 am
it wasn't written, it was SAID as I mentioned previously. However, Sam is right, it is from the Bible, so it's quite possible that he was quoting Bible.
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Sam1951
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Thu 13 May, 2004 09:53 am
I may have the answer this weekend. We are going to Billie's sister's graduation from Lutheran Seminary. There should be a great many people with encyclopedic knowledge of the Bible, a veritable treasure trove. Look for a definitive post late Sunday or Monday morning.
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