I am a failed Ph.D. in classics and therefore an amateur (at best) scholar of the ancient world.  You should not rely on anything I write.  You should always make up your mind for yourself. The world is much worse than most people believe.

Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher who lived in the 18th century and was Hegel's contemporary.  Although the school of philosophy he belongs to is formally called "Pessimism" - no one should let that keep them away from reading his works, as he is profoundly observant, honest, and decent. Letter from Johanna Schopenhauer to her son Arthur Schopenhauer, dated 6

Dear Lord Rotschild, I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet. His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours

"To select, for approbation the peculiar elements that come from some supposedly Jewish heredity is to open the door to all kinds of nonsense on racial theory", adding, "at thirteen I was not only converted to other religious views, but I also stopped believing that the Jewish people are in any way 'the chosen people'" Richard Feynman

Melian Dialogue (Book V, chs. 84–116) from History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides Athenians: Since we are not come to make a display of speech, or to argue with you at length in a matter where the decision is already certain, but rather to secure our own interests and not to be misled by fine phrases, we shall begin. We

Tertullian — De Carne Christi 5 “The Son of God was crucified: I am not ashamed—because it is shameful. The Son of God died: it is wholly credible—because it is absurd. And, buried, He rose again: it is certain—because it is impossible.”   Tertullian — De Carne Christi 3 “The resurrection of the dead is regarded as foolish by the

Mesopotamia By Rudyard Kipling 1917 They shall not return to us, the resolute, the young,     The eager and whole-hearted whom we gave: But the men who left them thriftily to die in their own dung,     Shall they come with years and honour to the grave? They shall not return to us, the strong men coldly slain     In sight of help

"A king should not wage other wars before a milchemet mitzvah. What is considered as milchemet mitzvah? The war against the seven nations who occupied Eretz Yisrael, the war against Amalek, and a war fought to assist Israel from an enemy which attacks them. Afterwards, he may wage a milchemet hareshut, i.e. a war fought with other nations in order

A father may consecrate his daughter without her knowledge while she is a minor. Even when she is a na'arah, he still possesses this right, as [implied by Deuteronomy 22:16]: "I gave my daughter to this man." [The money received as] kiddushin belongs to her father. Similarly, he has the right to [any ownerless property] she finds, [the wages she

A man [has the prerogative of] marrying several wives - even 100, whether at one time or one after the other. His wife may not object to this, provided he has the means to provide each [wife] with her subsistence, clothing and conjugal rights as befits her. He may not, however, compel his wives to live in the same courtyard.