“The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs, is to be ruled by evil men.”

an astute in the obvious observation, yeahhhhh Plato

Somewhat true but how good is man being when being indifferent to evil rule? Quite the enablers aren't they?

Try voting Libertarian ... anything but democratic or republican.

Liberty means Responsibility. Freedom has never been free.

Amen.

Gölök is on point: Can an indifferent man be (all that) 'good'?

This is why we are in this situation today .

How true, what do you think the intellectuals, the pragmatist ,those that held themselves above the fray thought when Hitler came to power? how about Mussolini, Stalin, tito , pol pot, Mositung? Need I go on? God damn it, We did nothing ! and now you want to gripe about Mr.Obama and his elk, Do you not understand that we put him in office? The day of his nomination when with the Greek columns and the voice reverb I and every honest citizen new we were in trouble, and yet we did nothing to stop this. wake up you fools, the longer we wait the bloodier the the civil war will be!

Good point Terry.. Warrdoc, it took two years for American to join WWll (I think that could be call indifference) and even then under great coercion.
And if Russia did't join the fray we would all be speaking German today...

Most of the time ( Good Men ) live a peaceful life, in a sea of corruption. The yoke of necessity, alone with a great degree of extra burden, instituted socialism, causes so much extra labor. It is no wonder Good Men are indifferent to public affairs. We have been ruled by evil men sense evil men instituted tyranny. Noncompliance by the individual, means a great deal of sacrifice. Most do not have the guts or will for it. If you can't trust money, who can you trust ? Look unto our Founding Fathers and consider, concerning a civil revolt against tyranny. The battle field is of such broad scope, and true Patriots are always a small minority.

My temptation is to expand-and-expound on the original quote.

But I will resist the temptation: all I could do would be to diminish its presentation, adding not one jot or tittle ( ? ) to it.

The purpose of the quote is to make people think ! But you stand in doubt, Bob, Burlington, VT. Never mistake inspiration for temptation. And your reference is a biblical one. you need to blow on the fire of Liberty for it to get hotter .

Good men are always, always concerned about public affairs. Being concerned about public affairs is what makes them good men. Good men's "small talk" sets them apart from the child, for there is no evil men.

Correction: Good men are always, always concerned about public affairs. What makes men good is being genuinely concerned about public/social issues. Good men's "small talk" sets them apart from the child, for there are no evil men.