201209 What I learned in my studies this morning

From Eric Hoffer: 

The Sinners, last of section II, The Potential Converts Sinners and criminals make fallow ground for the movement's gatherers. The movement offers the the sinner a cause by which to atone for past transgressions. Also, criminals often find it easier to employ violence and other immoral tactics in defense, and offense, of the movement. 

"It sometimes seems that mass movements are custom-made to fit the needs of the criminal —not only for the catharsis of his soul but also for the exercise of his inclinations and talents." 

(The True Believer, XI-42)

From Porcia Cato:

Porcia (aka Portia in Shakespeare and other literary works) was the daughter of Cato the Younger, wife of Brutus (yes, that Brutus), and a dedicated Stoic in her own right. She suffered mightily through the deaths of her father and first husband, through the flight from Rome of her second husband after the murder of Caesar, and through illness until her death.

...thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”

(John Milton, Sonnet 19: When I consider how my light is spent)

(Lives of the Stoics, pp. 153-160)