And what seems a good thing today
Turns out tomorrow to have been a disaster
What seemed in the moral spiritual sphere too, like great virtues in times past
Are easily seen today as hideous evils
Let's take, for example, the Inquisition
In its own day, among Catholics, the Holy Inquisition was regarded as we today regard the practice of psychiatry
You, you see, you feel that in curing the person of cancer, almost anything is justified
The most complex operation, the most weird surgery, people suspended for days and days on end on the end of tubes with x-ray penetration
Burning, people undergoing shock treatment, people locked in the colorless, monotonous corridors of mental institutions
In all good faith, they knew that witchcraft and heresy were terrible things
Awful plagues imperiling people's souls forever and ever
So any means were justified to cure people of heresy
We don’t change
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We can look back at those people and see how evil that was
But we can't see it in ourselves
So therefore, beware of virtue
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
So therefore, beware of virtue
So therefore, beware
Beware of virtue
Turns out tomorrow to have been a disaster
What seemed in the moral spiritual sphere too, like great virtues in times past
Are easily seen today as hideous evils
Let's take, for example, the Inquisition
In its own day, among Catholics, the Holy Inquisition was regarded as we today regard the practice of psychiatry
You, you see, you feel that in curing the person of cancer, almost anything is justified
The most complex operation, the most weird surgery, people suspended for days and days on end on the end of tubes with x-ray penetration
Burning, people undergoing shock treatment, people locked in the colorless, monotonous corridors of mental institutions
In all good faith, they knew that witchcraft and heresy were terrible things
Awful plagues imperiling people's souls forever and ever
So any means were justified to cure people of heresy
We don’t change
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We can look back at those people and see how evil that was
But we can't see it in ourselves
So therefore, beware of virtue
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
So therefore, beware of virtue
So therefore, beware
Beware of virtue
We white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, British, German, American, have been on a rampage, for the past hundred or more years, to improve the world
To improve the world
We have given the benefits of our culture, our religion, our technology to everybody
Except perhaps the Australian aborigines
And we have insisted that they receive the benefits of our culture, even our political styles, our democracy
You better be Democratic, or we'll shoot you
And having conferred these blessings all over the place, we wonder why everybody hates us
See, because sometimes, doing good to others, and even doing good to oneself
Is amazingly destructive, because it's full of conceit
[Chorus]
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
So we don't know
It's like the problem of geneticists, which they face today
I went to a meeting of geneticists not so long ago, where they gathered in a group of philosophers and theologians and said, "Now, look here. We need help."
We now are on the verge of figuring out how to breed any kind of human character
We would want to have
We can give you saints, philosophers, scientists, great politicians, anything you want
Just tell us, what kind of human beings ought we to breed?
So, I said, "How will those of us who are genetically unregenerate make up our minds what genetically generate people might be?”
Because I'm afraid, very much, that our selection of virtues may not work
It may be like, for example, this new kind of high-yield grain
Which is becoming ecologically destructive
When we interfere with the processes of nature and breed efficient plants and efficient animals
There's always some way in which we have to pay for it
And I can well see that eugenically-produced human beings might be dreadful
We could have a plague of virtuous people
You realize that?
You realize that?
Any animal considered in itself is virtuous, it does its thing, but in crowds, they're awful
Like a crowd of ants or locusts on the rampage
They're all perfectly good animals, but it's just too much
I could imagine a perfectly pestiferous mass of a million saints
[Chorus]
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
So I said to these people, "Look, the only thing you can do, just be sure that a vast variety of human beings is maintained."
Don't, please, breed us down to a few excellent types
Excellent for what?
Excellent for what?
We never know how circumstances are going to change, and how our need for different kinds of people changes
At one time, we may need very individualistic and aggressive people
At another time, we may need very cooperative team-working people
At another time, we may need people who are full of interest in dexterous manipulation of the external world
At another time, we may need people who explore into their own psychology and are introspective
There is no knowing
But the more varieties and the more skills we have, obviously, the better
So, you see, here again, the problem comes out in genetics
We do not really know how to interfere with the way the world is
To improve the world
We have given the benefits of our culture, our religion, our technology to everybody
Except perhaps the Australian aborigines
And we have insisted that they receive the benefits of our culture, even our political styles, our democracy
You better be Democratic, or we'll shoot you
And having conferred these blessings all over the place, we wonder why everybody hates us
See, because sometimes, doing good to others, and even doing good to oneself
Is amazingly destructive, because it's full of conceit
[Chorus]
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
So we don't know
It's like the problem of geneticists, which they face today
I went to a meeting of geneticists not so long ago, where they gathered in a group of philosophers and theologians and said, "Now, look here. We need help."
We now are on the verge of figuring out how to breed any kind of human character
We would want to have
We can give you saints, philosophers, scientists, great politicians, anything you want
Just tell us, what kind of human beings ought we to breed?
So, I said, "How will those of us who are genetically unregenerate make up our minds what genetically generate people might be?”
Because I'm afraid, very much, that our selection of virtues may not work
It may be like, for example, this new kind of high-yield grain
Which is becoming ecologically destructive
When we interfere with the processes of nature and breed efficient plants and efficient animals
There's always some way in which we have to pay for it
And I can well see that eugenically-produced human beings might be dreadful
We could have a plague of virtuous people
You realize that?
You realize that?
Any animal considered in itself is virtuous, it does its thing, but in crowds, they're awful
Like a crowd of ants or locusts on the rampage
They're all perfectly good animals, but it's just too much
I could imagine a perfectly pestiferous mass of a million saints
[Chorus]
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
So I said to these people, "Look, the only thing you can do, just be sure that a vast variety of human beings is maintained."
Don't, please, breed us down to a few excellent types
Excellent for what?
Excellent for what?
We never know how circumstances are going to change, and how our need for different kinds of people changes
At one time, we may need very individualistic and aggressive people
At another time, we may need very cooperative team-working people
At another time, we may need people who are full of interest in dexterous manipulation of the external world
At another time, we may need people who explore into their own psychology and are introspective
There is no knowing
But the more varieties and the more skills we have, obviously, the better
So, you see, here again, the problem comes out in genetics
We do not really know how to interfere with the way the world is
I'm sorry, I don't want to be an emperor
That's not my business
I don't want to rule or conquer anyone
I should like to help everyone, if possible
Jew, Gentile, Black man, White
We all want to help one another
Human beings are like that
We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery
We don't want to hate and despise one another
In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich
And can provide for everyone
The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way
Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate
Has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed
We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in
Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want
Our knowledge has made us cynical
Our cleverness, hard and unkind
We think too much and feel too little
More than machinery we need humanity
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together
The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men
Cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of us all
Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people
To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress
The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people
And so long as men die
Liberty will never perish
Soldiers, don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think, or what to feel!
Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder
Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!
You are not machines!
You are not cattle!
You are men!
You have the love of humanity in your hearts
You don't hate, only the unloved hate
The unloved and the unnatural
Soldiers, don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty! In the 17th Chapter of St. Luke it is written, the Kingdom of God is within man
Not one man nor a group of men, but in all men, in you!
You, the people have the power
The power to create machines
The power to create happiness
You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure
Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power
Let us all unite!
Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security
By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power
But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise, they never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!
Now let us fight to fulfill that promise!
Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance
Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness
Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
That's not my business
I don't want to rule or conquer anyone
I should like to help everyone, if possible
Jew, Gentile, Black man, White
We all want to help one another
Human beings are like that
We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery
We don't want to hate and despise one another
In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich
And can provide for everyone
The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way
Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate
Has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed
We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in
Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want
Our knowledge has made us cynical
Our cleverness, hard and unkind
We think too much and feel too little
More than machinery we need humanity
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together
The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men
Cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of us all
Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people
To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress
The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people
And so long as men die
Liberty will never perish
Soldiers, don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think, or what to feel!
Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder
Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!
You are not machines!
You are not cattle!
You are men!
You have the love of humanity in your hearts
You don't hate, only the unloved hate
The unloved and the unnatural
Soldiers, don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty! In the 17th Chapter of St. Luke it is written, the Kingdom of God is within man
Not one man nor a group of men, but in all men, in you!
You, the people have the power
The power to create machines
The power to create happiness
You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure
Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power
Let us all unite!
Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security
By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power
But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise, they never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!
Now let us fight to fulfill that promise!
Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance
Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness
Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
Do you mind what happens not?
I don't care what happens
I don't care is
It's dismissive
It's a loving indifference, a benevolent indifference as Pontius used to say
It's not an indifference that is cold
Because awareness is not an aloof, separate witness of experience locked up in an ivory tower of indifference
It is intimately one with all experience, so intimacy is its loving aspect
It doesn't know the meaning of the word resistance or rejection so it is intimately one with
And at the same time free of all experience
So it is both loving
And indifferent
So it is both loving
And indifferent
So it is not a cold indifference
It is a loving indifference
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
We're speaking about awareness, awareness, awareness
We talk about mind
That's a different matter
Because mind's experience is always divided into polarities
Good and bad, right and wrong, true and false
And at the level of mind those categories are valid
They don't pertain to consciousness
Consciousness doesn't know the difference between good and bad, there is no good or bad or right or wrong
But when consciousness assumes the form of mind
It divides itself
Into two and at that level there are differences, there are distinctions, and there is a meaning to the words
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
So in terms of ethic
What is right and what is wrong
I would suggest what is right at the level of the mind is behavior that expresses
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
Another name for awareness is love
So behavior that is loving is an expression of the inherent quality of our true nature
The inherent quality of our true nature
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
Cruel or unkind
Unjust, unloving behavior are behaviors that
Whilst they come originally from awareness, there's no else they could come from, they are filtered through the belief in separation and as they are filtered through separation they are perverted – or distorted
So hatred, for instance, is love distorted by the sense of separation
So hatred, for instance, is love more distorted by the sense of separation
I don't care what happens
I don't care is
It's dismissive
It's a loving indifference, a benevolent indifference as Pontius used to say
It's not an indifference that is cold
Because awareness is not an aloof, separate witness of experience locked up in an ivory tower of indifference
It is intimately one with all experience, so intimacy is its loving aspect
It doesn't know the meaning of the word resistance or rejection so it is intimately one with
And at the same time free of all experience
So it is both loving
And indifferent
So it is both loving
And indifferent
So it is not a cold indifference
It is a loving indifference
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
We're speaking about awareness, awareness, awareness
We talk about mind
That's a different matter
Because mind's experience is always divided into polarities
Good and bad, right and wrong, true and false
And at the level of mind those categories are valid
They don't pertain to consciousness
Consciousness doesn't know the difference between good and bad, there is no good or bad or right or wrong
But when consciousness assumes the form of mind
It divides itself
Into two and at that level there are differences, there are distinctions, and there is a meaning to the words
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
So in terms of ethic
What is right and what is wrong
I would suggest what is right at the level of the mind is behavior that expresses
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
Another name for awareness is love
So behavior that is loving is an expression of the inherent quality of our true nature
The inherent quality of our true nature
[Chorus]
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
There is a meaning to the words true and thoughts
Right and wrong
Loving indifference
We're speaking about awareness
Loving indifference
The qualities that are inherent in our true nature
Cruel or unkind
Unjust, unloving behavior are behaviors that
Whilst they come originally from awareness, there's no else they could come from, they are filtered through the belief in separation and as they are filtered through separation they are perverted – or distorted
So hatred, for instance, is love distorted by the sense of separation
So hatred, for instance, is love more distorted by the sense of separation
I don’t mind the denunciations frankly
I mind the lies
Well, I mean intellectuals are very good at lying
They’re professionals at it
They have wonderful technique
There’s no way of responding to it
If somebody calls you, you know, an antisemite
What can you say?
“I’m not an antisemite?”
Somebody says you’re, you’re a racist, you’re Nazi or something this
You always lose
I mean
The person who throws the mud always wins
Because there’s no way of responding to such charges
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
I do not think that the state ought to have the right to determine historical truths
And to punish people who deviate from them
I’m not willing to give the state that right
Even if they happen to fall
“Are you denying that gas chambers ever…”
Course not
But I’m saying if you believe in freedom of speech
You believe in freedom of speech for views you don’t like
I mean, Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked
Right?
So was Stalin
If you’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means you’re in favor of freedom of speech
Precisely for views, you despise
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
There’s two positions you can have on freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
With regard to my defense of
The utterly offensive
The people who express utterly offensive views
I haven’t the slightest doubt that every commissar says
"You’re defending that person’s views"
No, I’m not
No, I'm not
I’m defending his right to express them
And the difference is crucial
And the difference has been understood
Outside of fascist circles
Since the 18th century
If you’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means you’re in favor of freedom of speech
Precisely for views, you despise
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
You’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means precisely for views you despise
Freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
You’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means precisely for views you despise
Freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
The language you use has meaning!
The language you use has meaning!
That’s right
The language you use has meaning!
The language you use has meaning!
That’s right
That’s right
I mind the lies
Well, I mean intellectuals are very good at lying
They’re professionals at it
They have wonderful technique
There’s no way of responding to it
If somebody calls you, you know, an antisemite
What can you say?
“I’m not an antisemite?”
Somebody says you’re, you’re a racist, you’re Nazi or something this
You always lose
I mean
The person who throws the mud always wins
Because there’s no way of responding to such charges
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
I do not think that the state ought to have the right to determine historical truths
And to punish people who deviate from them
I’m not willing to give the state that right
Even if they happen to fall
“Are you denying that gas chambers ever…”
Course not
But I’m saying if you believe in freedom of speech
You believe in freedom of speech for views you don’t like
I mean, Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked
Right?
So was Stalin
If you’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means you’re in favor of freedom of speech
Precisely for views, you despise
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
There’s two positions you can have on freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
With regard to my defense of
The utterly offensive
The people who express utterly offensive views
I haven’t the slightest doubt that every commissar says
"You’re defending that person’s views"
No, I’m not
No, I'm not
I’m defending his right to express them
And the difference is crucial
And the difference has been understood
Outside of fascist circles
Since the 18th century
If you’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means you’re in favor of freedom of speech
Precisely for views, you despise
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
You’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means precisely for views you despise
Freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
You’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means precisely for views you despise
Freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
The language you use has meaning!
The language you use has meaning!
That’s right
The language you use has meaning!
The language you use has meaning!
That’s right
That’s right