or, Benefitting from the Wisdom of the Wise

Salmon Rushdie spoke at New York’s Cooper Union on the subjects of terrorism and leadership. He illustrated the fine line that seperates the two. He brought with him not only his own words, but the words of several colleagues and contemporaries, whish he thought should be heard. He read letters and essays and at times, were we to listen carefully, we might have noticed him quting someone who was quoting someone who was quoting someone.

There is an old idea, that the only true progress that can be made, must be made in the shadow of error. Learning from one’s mistakes may not be as easy as it sounds, but what more important thing could hang in the balance than the fate of the world? Am I being dramatic?

At one point, Salmon Rushdie read from a transcript of a conversation between Norman Mailer and his son. It ended this way:

“[W]isdom is ready to reach us from the most unexpected quarters. Here, I quote from a man who became wise a little too late in life:

‘Naturally, the common people don?t want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.’

That was Hermann Goering speaking at the Nuremberg trials after World War II. It is one thing to be forewarned. Will we ever be forearmed?”

Complete Transcript
Video of Mr. Rushdie