A quote from Os Guinness ... maybe what he says explains a thing or two

#1

… I don’t agree with Guinness very often. He is one of those you read because, agree with him or not, he will make you think and on occasion he records an observation worth remembering.

“This danger points to the second source of temptation, the pressure on presidents to act as psychologically exceptional. Each of us in our life’s work knows the pressure to prove ourselves, the challenge of expressing our significance as a person. But in an anonymous society people not only express themselves in their work but have to earn it through their success. This puts the heaviest burden on the highest ambition–it is impossible to run for president , Henry Kissinger is quoted as saying, ‘unless you are a rich, unemployed egomaniac.’ and in the case of the presidency, it tempts holders of the office to live with both eyes on history. History is the world’s court of judgement that can be appealed to even over the heads of the electorate, the legislature , and the Supreme Court.” - pp. 331 from his The American Hour: A Time of Reckoning and the Once and Future Role of Faith

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#2

An interesting take from Kissinger, who started out in rags, was most certainly an egomaniac, and in this authors opinion…had nothing but disdain for the common man…once he reached a higher station in life that is…

Control the Food, control the People. Control the Energy, control the Continents. Control the Money, control the World

At 50 million net worth when he died…“rich, unemployed, egomaniac”…that’s two out of three.

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#3

Happily, or unhappily depending on how you see it, Abraham Lincoln was the exception that proves the rule!! :wink: On top of all the other stuff he was handling, he was married to a bi-polar woman!! :scream: I would highly recommend the “new” bio out by Michael Burlingame! No glorified picture of Old Abe there!! :astonished:

#4

Interesting… I’ve not heard (*or read) the name Os Guinness in several decades, though he was often mentioned by some evangelical friends when I was in college. I understand that, like me, he left the Episcopal Church (though far more recently than I) and became (again like me) a member of a “Continuing Anglican” parish, i.e., a parish in communion with an Anglican bishop that did not accept the radical changes adopted in the 1976 General Convention… it’s interesting to me that it took Guinness that long. I remember reading his “Dust of Death” in college, and much of it was very far-seeing.

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