Quoting People With Whom You Disagree on Fundamentals

[itsjames]

I was reading one of the quotes at the top of the forum main page a few minutes ago, when something occurred to me. Is it proper to quote individuals with whom you disagree with on fundamentals, when the specific quote you're using supports your position on an issue?

The purpose of a quote is usually to offer a short and eloquent statement of a belief on a particular issue which was said by a well known person. The way I see it, there are two deeper reasons one might quote another person. The first is because the quote is eloquent and you want to acknowledge the person whom you're quoting to give them credit. The second is because you want the name of the person you're quoting to serve as a stamp of approval on the belief, like saying "I must be right, because this great guy thought the same thing." This latter reason is obviously irrational, no matter whether you agree with the person you're quoting on fundamentals or not. But the first is trickier. Personally, I wouldn't want to go around quoting Hitler on anything he said even if I happened to agree with that particular thing. And even with someone less evil, if I disagreed with him on how he came to believe what he said, ie. if I disagreed with him on fundamentals, I wouldn't want to quote him. I'd rather come up with my own way of stating the same thing, because I wouldn't want to give him credit for just happening upon the correct belief when all his underlying beliefs were wrong.

The thing is, I really like reading the quotes at the top of the forum page. I like to read what the positions of all these famous people were just because it's interesting. But that isn't the typical setting under which you hear or see people being quoted. Normally I think people have an agenda.

Is there something I'm missing here? I'm really curious what you guys think about this.

[Jake_Ellison]

Personally, I wouldn't want to go around quoting Hitler on anything he said even if I happened to agree with that particular thing. And even with someone less evil, if I disagreed with him on how he came to believe what he said, ie. if I disagreed with him on fundamentals, I wouldn't want to quote him.

Why not? I mean from the little German I speak, I doubt Hitler ever said anything eloquent (he was charismatic, but not eloquent or intelligent), but what if he did say something no one else did (the way some actual smart people with bad philosophical foundations in fact did)? I understand some people think by association, and if Hitler said something true they'd dismiss it because he killed millions, but I see no reason to acknowledge their inability to be logical.

[Seanjos]

A crooked house can have nice windows. I've always had this signature.

[anonrobt]

A crooked house can have nice windows. I've always had this signature.

Ahh - but being crooked, they probably leak...

[freestyle]

Check this edition of The Fountainhead. (Amazon link) Search in the book for the first use of ''Nietzsche"

Perhaps the best way to communicate The Fountainhead's sense of life is by means of the quotation which had stood at the head of my manuscript, but which i removed from the final, published book. With this opportunity to explain it, I am glad to bring it back.

...

Edited April 30, 2010 by freestyle