The chaplain had mastered, in a moment of divine intuition, the handy technique of protective rationalization, and he was exhilarated by his discovery. It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.
Catch-22, Joseph Heller, Chapter 34
I recently re-read Catch-22 (what a great book!) and when this bit came up and I read it, all the hair on my arm stood up, it was so good. It’s today - it’s reality - it’s political correctness - it’s modern politics - it’s the Iraq war - it’s bad management - it’s pervasive.
Simply brilliant.
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