Henry St. John Quote - Liberty Quotes Blog

"Indifference must be a crime in us, to be ranked but one degree below treachery; for deserting the commonwealth is next to betraying it."

by:	Henry St. John (1678-1751) 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English politician and philosopher
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Categories:	Apathy, Crime, Indifference
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Reader comments about this quote:

Isn't everyone asking why everyone else isn't doing something about our problems, and complain about apathy, and keep waiting, and waiting and waiting for someone to rescue us? Complacency and Impotency is the sickness of the masses. Although sometimes I wonder how many more people are afraid to act than they were during the 70's. There are more weapons to use on crowds now, and much more to be personally risked. -- Judith, New Mexico
No, some of us are doing something daily. And we are risking. We just can't be heard by the progressives who we have in office. You know those people who gave this pledge: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God. They, however, lack any honor or courage and probably don't even understand the words because they don't have corporate or union dollars attached to them. It is your 90% of the congress that is dishonest and not listening, but there are a lot of us working to put honest people, citizens, in office and rid our country, thru voting (hopefully they are not as corrupt as the government), of the thugs, thieves, and tyrants. -- Abigail, Newport
It is understandable when we are told day in and day out that there is some 'danger' out there that the government must address. Problems seem so big, that they appear to complex to solve without billions of government debt. That's what they are counting on -- that the only responsibility of a good citizen is to vote and pay your taxes and let your government officials take care of the rest... A free nation requires more than plastic robots to flourish -- in fact it appears there is a purposeful statist tendency to dumb us down to feel helpless and dependent upon government favors. How can you vote out the criminals when the only other choice is the criminal from the other party??! -- E Archer, NYC
This idea is only true of the educated and possessed of free time to understand the problems of government. Mr. St. John had no idea of a country so influenced by demagoguery and fascist, corporate ownership of government that the majority of citizens have little time outside work, little education from schools deliberately dumbed down, and suffer from ignorance brought about by a hugely powerful media preaching capitalism, belief in the supernatural, prejudice, and hate. -- Dick, Fort Worth
Quit looking at the big problem and sighing as Archer does that he cannot solve it, and thus throw your hands up in despair. Do what you can do each day for self, and fellow man, ie community, state, nation. When I go RVing in a state or commercial park I pick up other peoples trash. When I boat and put into a remote area, I pick up a floating bottle etcetera. If all people did this not just in regards to these silly things but in regards to all things then we would live in a much better environment. The issue is as quoted "the sin of indifference". When you think you do not or cannot make a difference then you have lost your soul or something like that. The reason people become indifferent is because they want to be controlling rather than be humble and just do what it is that they can do. Do your part and people will take notice and start to do their part and the world will change. As Archer mentioned it may simply start with paying your taxes correctly. -- Waffler, Smith
Waffler, there's a major difference between being a good samaritan and submitting to the will of an authoritarian state. Take out the trash in November people. -- J Carlton, Calgary 1
I'm with you, J Carlton, November is trash month. -- jim k, Austin,Tx 1
Carlton the quote was not about an authoritarina state it was about the commonwealth, can you dig that. The commonwealth can be conceived of all that we hold in common, like river banks, village greens, road sides etceter, Can you dig that! I doubt it, I really doubt it. -- Waffler, Smith 1
I’m not quite sure how to rate this. I tend to want to rate it negatively. Terms with limitations need to be strictly defined. By example: “a crime in us” would indicate that it is for us to obey the treachery of carnal god’s legislation; with an indifference thereto being even worse than that. Judith above gives a different spin on the quote which is probably closer to the intended meaning? Betraying the commonwealth by deserting it under the current state of circumstances may be a good and noble thing to do. Fear, rather than indifference, of reprisal for any acts supporting actual individual sovereignty, inalienable right or liberty at nature’s law is a powerful deterrent to many. -- Mike, Norwalk 1
Don't really understand the point of this quote, but more pertinent, with the acquisition of the parenting position the game really ends. When the kids say "the game never ends" it means they never intend to accept the challenge of being an authentic parent. The Adult accepts the challenge and intends to position the responsible forces for the best possible result. In the final analysis, while the kids make more kids, the adult creates adults. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown 1

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