MENTAL NOTE #125: FREEDOM — “Every thought should be uttered freely, fearlessly…”

I have been very troubled with the current and horrendous change in my country’s political environment, where a complete silence of Free Speech is in the process — that is — Free Speech will be silenced for ALL PEOPLE who oppose tyranny, and oppose the destruction of their country, to a new leader who loves his ‘Great New Reset’. T r u m p did nothing to stop this from happening; but under a Beiijing-Biiden admin, it is going to be worse, and you will see that unfold for yourself, very, very, soon.

Once again, I must turn our attention to the Sage, and the Great Master Painter, Robert Henri:

“It is better that every thought should be uttered freely, fearlessly, than that any great thought should be denied utterance for fear of evil. It is only through complete independence that all goodness can be spoken, that all purity can be found. Even indecency is bred of restriction not of freedom, for how can the spirit which controls the ethical side of life be trusted except through the poise that is gained by exercise? When we think honestly, we never desire individuals bound hand and foot, and the ethical side of man’s nature we cannot picture as overwhelmed and smothered with regulations if we are to have a permanent human goodness; for restrictions hide vice, and freedom alone bears morality.”

Henri, R., & Ryerson, M. (1958). The art spirit, by Robert Henri: notes, articles, fragments of letters and talks to students, bearing on the concept and technique of picture making, the study of art generally, and on appreciation, compiled by Margery Ryerson. J.B. Lippincott.