“We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts.”
– Patrick Henry (1738-1799) U.S. Revolutionary War Statesman
THE KIND OF BEASTLY PRIDE THAT FUELS OUR FEARS – “Just thinking about our list may frighten us. We may be afraid we’ve done so much damage that we can never repair it, or we may be afraid of facing the people we’ve harmed. We find ourselves wondering how our amends will be received. (It Works, How & Why, p. 54)
THE CURE THAT TAMES THE BEAST – “First, we take a look backward and try to discover where we have been at fault; next we make a vigorous attempt to repair the damage we have done … .” (12 & 12, p. 77)
I don’t wanna Cry No More – Tina Turner (4:23)
Seductive Sea Sirens Meditation (5:23)
How does false pride “transform us into beasts” from your experience?
Excerpt of Mario Savio’s speech before the FSM sit-in
“Now, I ask you to consider: if this is a firm, and if the Board of Regents are the board of directors, and if President Kerr in fact is the manager, then I’ll tell you something: the faculty are a bunch of employees, and we’re the raw material! But we’re a bunch of raw material[s] that don’t mean to have any process upon us, don’t mean to be made into any product, don’t mean to end up being bought by some clients of the University, be they the government, be they industry, be they organized labor, be they anyone! We’re human beings!
[Wild applause.]
There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!
[Prolonged applause.]
Now, no more talking. We’re going to march in singing “We Shall Overcome.” Slowly; there are a lot of us. Up here to the left — I didn’t mean the pun.” (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/290036-there-s-a-time-when-the-operation-of-the-machine-becomes)
