She Was One of Us

Hannah Arendt:
[W]hat would have become of that, had she not come to these [American] shores — who knows? It was the experience of the Republic here which decisively shaped her political thinking, tempered as it was in the fires of European tyranny and catastrophe, and forever supported by her grounding in classical thought. America taught her a way beyond the hardened alternatives of left and right from which she had escaped; and the idea of the Republic, as the realistic chance for freedom, remained dear to her even in its darkening days.
She died in her error, as I hope to myself.

3 comments:

Tom said...

Interesting. Should one or more of her works be added to the Common Ground series?

Grim said...

I really like Arendt's work, though not everyone does: Israelis in particular don't care for her treatment of the Eichmann trial. She was amazingly well-educated, and while I disagree with many things she says, you can only profit from reading her work.

raven said...

Not relating to Arendt, , but an addition to the list I thought of over coffee-
The writings of John McPhee have definitely influenced me. A clear-eyed look at a host of subjects. "Conversations with the Arch Druid" was an excellent primer on the pro's and con's of environmentalism. "The curve of Binding Energy" a prescient look at nuke terrorism.

Also the writings of Robert Kaplan, his insights into geo politics arerevealing.