Fascism by Madeleine Albright

Whoever fights with monsters should see to it that in the process he does not himself become a monster. -NIETZSCHE

WITHIN EACH OF US, THERE IS AN INEXHAUSTIBLE yearning for liberty, or so we democrats like to believe. However, that desire often seems in competition with the longing to be told what to do. We are of two minds. In classrooms, we search constantly for the right balance between instilling discipline in our students and allowing their curiosity and creativity to run free. In religious circles, rote memorization is the means of learning favored by some, but for others the search for wisdom, though beginning with scripture, opens itself to the full range of human experience and imaginings. When rabbis are accused of answering every question with a question, they typically reply: "And why do you think that is? " In the Gospels, Jesus asks forty questions for every declarative statement he makes. In business, too, and in the armed forces, there are commandments that must be obeyed, mixed with exhortations to reject the stale conventions of dogma in search of fresh insights.