VOLTAIRE's most quoted...and Desi's thots

"I may disagree with what you say but I will defend, to the death, your right to say it."

Yes, I have quoted Voltaire's dictum a thousand times since my student days -- those blissful wanton days of yore eon years ago, but I do remember, the kind of April showers and May poems, and September love, reformasi too? -- and today I am jogged into thinking deeply about it. Philosophical. To make penance for mssingout Desiderata.English rumination last Sunday. So no DDC (Da Desi Code to new comers, for an explanation, please remit RM50 into Bum2008 Organising Committee Treasurer Tony Yew's Mayban AC and come for BUMers do, did at bum2007.wordpress.com, with kambing thrown in. Go check our bum2008-desiderata.blogspot.com!

VOLTAIRE CAME BACK TO MIND AS I READ nst, aPRIL 8, 2008 (I BROKE THE PICKET LINE WIT' BLOGGERS BOYCOTTING MSM ON TUESDAYS; "Minta maaf, Sdr Haris I and Zorro-cum-CatZJones!" ~~ Desi's excuse is he couldn't meet wit' Morrie today!)

Young chappie (by his picture there!) UMAPAGAN AMPIKAIPAKAN has some interesting thoughts (not thots in Blogspeak as in my blogspot Title, but that's an entitlement of Blogging, so get ye on board: "ye" here as Desi is a The Bard fan. If you have to ask who is this The Bard, can you please ask of former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his ex-deputy, former DPM Saudara Anwar Ibrahim!)

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Okay, a few quotes from
"Timeto make a stand for what is right":

"I understand thatwe can’t all be as enlightened as Voltaire when he wrote: “Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.”


Or even Chomsky, when he points out: “Goebbels was in favour of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re in favour of free speech, then you’re in favour of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise.”


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But at some point, something has got to give. The whole notion of doing unto others was meant to inspire understanding, not to cultivate injustice.


Instead, we insist on matching misdeed with misdeed.

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:)"

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DESIDERATA: urges you, dear Esteemed Readers, to invest RM1.20 on a copy, to expand thy mind, and at least learn by heart this dictum, the two versions, before dropping by at BUM2008 cometh May 1 as Bloggers, representing the 5th Estate, and MSM resoidents, representing the 4th Estate, and civil society members, engage in discourse. Invest another RM50 for a mind-bending explosion to celebrate YOUR DAY mainly, as it's a public holiday to recognise Labour Day!)(REF:http://bum2008-desiderata.blogspot.com/)

This dictum expounded by Voltaire has been promoted as a guiding light to civil society engagement and discourse, though MIC and Taiwan Parliament members used to, still do, and will, resort to throwing chairs and fistfights to amplify their points of view. Even local folk hero DAP state assemblyman for a fourth term now, lawyer Teng Chang Khim, has a story to tell about once getting a slap (or 2?) from the late Zakaria Mat Deros, of that RM7-10million small hut in Port Klang fame/infamy, whatever...

So my thoughts today -- after trying to cat-nap riding a cosy bus for one hour from Furong to the SCAH nearest bus stop, Central Market, and after two cups of tehtarik, which is standard journalists' brew -- traverse with great minds like the French and Malaysian philosophers; sometimes, one claims greatness by association by dropping BIG names!:)

I emailed mGf Umapagan seeking information on where he sighted his version of that quote, that is:

“Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.”


I will share with you when he responds ... meanwhile just mention I have sighted slight variations to what I have been using, that is:

"I may disagree with what you say but I will defend, to the death, your right to say it."

I do believe one must NOT (minta maaf, I left out this key word in the first instance, and it could be a fatal mistake if you took Desi seriously! ~~ Desi @6.38pm) take Voltaire's advice LITERALLY, especially like defending "to the death". Hey, I have only one blardy life -- WHY do I need to sacrifice my precious life for some moron's right ot ramble on nonsensically, ad nauseum.

I am sure you have come across many conversationists who insist they were always right, right down to the last digit of their ten little toes starting with their right thumb. Desi starts with his LEFT thumb, and being a born diehard DEMOCRAT, I do sincerely believe in, and try my darndnest to practise Voltaire's credo in my oral and written exchanges with fellow Homo sapiens. As I often have vowed, I believe I have Socialist aka leftisttendencies from a very young age, which I also believe are in concord with my Democratic ideals.

But as Malaysia progresses up the Developing Nations league, even Socialists like Desi are attracted by Capitalist indulgences, hence my CONtinental breakfasts breakaway during the weekends, and the occasional weekdays when my more affluent buddies invite Desi to meet up for dinner at the five or six-star hotels in Kuala Lumpur. Actually I don't trust wolfish Koala Lumpuh as I hail from small town PeytonPlaceque Seremban, but I digress... Which is another Blogger's privbilge to abuse, so there is no reason why you shouldn't join the Blogsbandwagon!

But sometimes I bump into not so pleasant conversationists ... I describe them as BLOCKHEADS, who would argue with you till the cows come home that the Zakarias of Port Klang had/have not done any wrong. That they stll would disagree with Desi and Ancient Mariner's positions the Port Klang Free Zone was bailed out for RM4.6BILLION using tax-payers' money...etc, etc.

While I would like to act in accordance with the spirit of Voltaire's dictum, I sometimes would just seek solace with my little Inner Voice and pen some poetic lines, flaunting some greatness imitating The Bard's ... and perhaps, Voltaire's too.
And I then tell mGf Helen of Ipoh, who recently helped Desi lots in promoting Bum2008 via graphics -- and by way-of-mouth at Ipoh's white-coffee shops, yes? -- -- that another famous dictum, paraphrasing here, just doesn't work:

If your neighbour spanks thee on the right cheek, turn to him your left cheek.

Here's some knotty words as Desi's pastry-parting shot, to all ye YoungOnes out here!:)


Thank you!

When Auntie gives you a cookie
You learnt from young to say "Thank you!"

When you are handed a red packet on New Year's Day
You wish the giver: "Happy New Year, thank you!"

When Boss gives you a raise
You gush: "Thank you, thank you!"

So one is taught civil behaviour
At school, at work and at the dinner table

Also, Elders beseech you:
If someone slaps you on the left cheek
Please turn him your right cheek

But I wouldn't advise you thus
In my wisdom gotten in golden years
I would beseech you, shout back:
"No, no thanks!
I don't fire blanks!"

UPDATEd @6.38PM, even after a taxing journey Furong-KL-Seremban, I labour hard/heart to please my loyal readers ... I presume there's at least one out dare?YES< I spied a soliatry Commenter, Anon no doubt, I thank thee wit' all my heart (I broke the rule about not using DDC, but this section is a PS, doesn't count!:)

I am posting an UPDATE thanks mainly to mNf (N stand for new, replacing G which stood for GOoD...) who signs off as "Uma" who responded to my Email, and I gavemy word I would keep you posted, so a writer's word is his bond ... or is it bondage, 007?I hope you don't mind my reprising your write here!:)

"
Hello there.

Thank you very much for the email.

The popular rendition of the quote is actually from Evelyn Beatrice
Hall (writing as Stephen G. Tallentyre) in the biography "The Friends of Voltaire". It's from the passage:

"The men who had hated [the book], and had not particularly loved
Helvétius, flocked round him now. Voltaire forgave him all injuries,
intentional or unintentional. 'What a fuss about an omelette!' he had
exclaimed when he heard of the burning. How abominably unjust to
persecute a man for such an airy trifle as that! 'I disapprove of what
you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,' was his
attitude now."

So, in essence, Voltaire didn't actually say the words: "I disapprove
of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".

It is widely believed that Hall was paraphrasing Voltaire's beliefs
from a letter that he wrote to M. le Riche in 1770, in which he is
supposed to have said:

"Monsieur l'abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai
ma
vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire"

Which roughly translates to what I had in my piece. I can't remember
the exact source of the French quote as it was from something I had
read when at University.

The Chomsky quote is from his book Manufacturing Consent.

FYI: There is also a quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes which goes
something like "The principle of free thought is not free thought for
those who agree with us but freedom for the thought we hate". The
sentiment is similar.

I'll be sure to check out your blog as soon as I get home.

I hope you enjoyed the piece.

Thanks again for the feedback.

All the best.

Uma."

NB: The emphasis in the email response (BOLDED thus) is mine -- Desi. Thanks Uma again, come over to BUM2008 and we will banter in the spirit of Voltaire, or one can play solitaire with the pretty gals who are coming for the lamb minus Mary, not bloody.