“Ashamed to decline the challenge, yet fearing to accept it.”
VII. 93 (tr. Samuel Butler).
Iliad (c. 750 BC)
Original
Αἴδεσθεν μὲν ἀνήνασθαι, δεῖσαν δ' ὑποδέχθαι.
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Homér 217
Ancient Greek epic poet, author of the Iliad and the OdysseyRelated quotes
The Truth that Dare not Speak its Name. p. 104.
The Light's On At Signpost (2002)
Free speech in an age of identity politics (2015)
Context: To accept that certain things cannot be said is to accept that certain forms of power cannot be challenged.... This is why free speech is essential not simply to the practice of democracy, but to the aspirations of those groups who may have been failed by the formal democratic processes; to those whose voices may have been silenced by racism, for instance. The real value of free speech, in other words, is not to those who possess power, but to those who want to challenge them. And the real value of censorship is to those who do not wish their authority to be challenged. The right to ‘subject each others’ fundamental beliefs to criticism’ is the bedrock of an open, diverse society. Once we give up such a right in the name of ‘tolerance’ or ‘respect’, we constrain our ability to challenge those in power, and therefore to challenge injustice.
“The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.”
Bennis (1989, p. 45), cited in: Terrence Mech, Gerard B. McCabe (1998) Leadership and Academic Librarians. p. 56
1980s
“Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.”
As quoted in Textbook of Phacoemulsification (1988) by William F. Maloney and Lincoln Grindle, p. 79
“God does not accept a challenge unless victory is already guaranteed.”
2000s, 2006, State of the Union (January 2006)
“The key to life is accepting challenges. Once someone stops doing this, he's dead.”