The great Molly Ivins has passed away after a long battle with breast cancer. While her death was an all-too-common tragedy, few lived like she did.
It is one of the most fundamental progressive values that life is not to be lived simply for oneself and for one's own sake, but rather to contribute and give something back to one's country, one's family, one's community and to the world. In the words of Leo Rosten, ""I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all."
And boy, did Molly make a difference. She made a difference above all through her words--words that will resonate long after her death. Words whose value cannot be measured in gold.
I think it the most fitting tribute to her, therefore, to reprint here some of her greatest nuggets of wisdom from a long and storied career as a writer truly standing for something--and truly making a difference for having lived.
Review with me, therefore, some of her words:
What you need is sustained outrage...there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority.
The first rule of holes: when you're in one, stop digging.
You can't ignore politics, no matter how much you'd like to.
I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil. And that no one knows the truth.
It's like, duh. Just when you thought there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between the two parties, the Republicans go and prove you're wrong.
The United States of America is still run by its citizens. The government works for us. Rank imperialism and warmongering are not American traditions or values. We do not need to dominate the world. We want and need to work with other nations. We want to find solutions other than killing people. Not in our name, not with our money, not with our children's blood.
Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful.
One function of the income gap is that the people at the top of the heap have a hard time even seeing those at the bottom. They practically need a telescope. The pharaohs of ancient Egypt probably didn't waste a lot of time thinking about the people who built their pyramids, either. OK, so it's not that bad yet -- but it's getting that bad.
Personally, I think [Bush] is further evidence that the Great Scriptwriter in the sky has an overdeveloped sense of irony.
These are just a few of Molly's great words of wisdom. Feel free to share your favorites in the comments as well.
We'll miss you, Molly. RIP.