"Principle?" he said. "Principle? My dear man, principles kill. Hitler had principles."
"Principle?" he said. "Principle? My dear man, principles kill. Hitler had principles."
Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive. -
William F. Buckley
Shivaani Chakravarti: Yes, but it must be recent because it hasn't yet been reborn. Practicality is not opposed to principle,dishonesty is.
Raji Pillai: It is frightening that racial/religious hatred and intolerance seem to be on the rise-not even a pretence atsecularism any longer. What other reason could there possibly be NOT accepting Narendra Modi's resignation?
Aman Gill:No, idealism is not dead and men or women of principles live in their homes and offices. Unfortunately, ofkeen interest to the media are stories of success, glamour and fast paced creativity. Therefore, in theforefront we have achievers, enterprising individuals the newsmakers. I don’t think the principled peopleare so keen on self-promotion and therefore their voices are not heard through the mass media. But if we wereto shift focus, we can and do find them, in fact, there are a large number of them.
Kalyan Raman: Most certainly, yes, he is dying by the minute. It is our most effective ongoing nationwide pogrom yet. And nobrouhaha about it in Parliament, either. Naturally.
Reeta Sinha: For most, day-to-day life in India means to be consumed by practicality-it's called survival. Idealism isn'tdead, but it has become a luxury item now, for most. Men of principle do exist in India but perhaps theprinciples they live by
have changed?
Abraham Eraly: Strangely, our land of 'primordial passivity and conservatism' was once, till about the sixth century AD, theland of idealists and radical thinkers, who challenged traditions and advanced knowledge. Then we slid intothe Dark Ages, and knowledge became fossilised. We grew intellectually timid, even cowardly. Conformed blindlyto the given values, lost all sense of individualism and idealism.
We are yet to emerge from that bog. We need intellectual rebels today to carry us forward, but we don'thave them. We don't have them because only mediocrities can thrive in our present social environment. It's nosurprise that nearly every Indian who has made any world class contribution in science or culture, has done sooutside India.
Anasuya Mohanti: Idealism is all there, but mostly reserved for coffee table conversations. In this day and age, beingpractical has more merits than being principled. Idealism often leads to disappointment in a society that isprogressively getting subverted by corrupt practices. At the end of the day, we find ourselves manipulated tofit into the society and more often than not, men and women end up compromising on issues they would stand upfor.
Pauline Chitra Vellaichamy: Men of principles? Wow, are there any other kind?!! Starting with my father, uncles, brothers,brothers-in-law and friends...god, how I wish... It's my pet fantasy to meet up with one of those"practical" yuppie-types who will walk all over me (I can actually justify all the self-pity then!).
P.V. Subramanian: Idealism is neither feasible nor practical in India. Say you have a couple of drinks and turn idealistic.Maybe you want to go after black ticketeers. What do you do first? Go to the cinema hall of course. How? Go tothe bus stop, and wait an hour for the bus. But what of going to work? Do you take a day off? Medical, casual,or restricted leave? You get the drift. The Man of Principles is alive and is saving money for his flat.
Farrukh Dhondy:All Indian men have principles and if the buyer doesn’t like those, he has others.
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