[We’ve all heard some =
famous sayings/translations and THINK we know what they meant in =
history.]
“ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME” was, of course, =
never true.
But "roma" is an =
ancient Latin word meaning "somewhere". So all this old saying =
means is that all roads will take you somewhere and you should =
never worry too much.
~~
“WE WILL BURY YOU” =
in a famous 1956 speech by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev was NOT =
exactly what he said.
Khrushchev was stating that =
Communism would outlast capitalism, which would destroy itself from =
within (quoting Karl Marx’ Communist Manifesto “What the =
bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own =
grave-diggers.”) It was not the specter of impending nuclear =
attack but that he would see the West “buried” under its own =
excesses and corruption. And he would be there when our =
civilization was buried.
He may well have been correct in that =
evaluation.
~~
“WE’RE IGNORING =
YOU.” This was the response by Japan in July 1945 to the =
Allied ultimatum that they must surrender or face a bomb of ‘utter =
destruction’.
But =
what Premier Suzuki actually said was “No comment; we’re =
thinking about it.” But the translators got it wrong and ten =
days after the “we’re ignoring” comment, President =
Truman ordered dropping a bomb on Hiroshima, then three days later =
another on Nagasaki (to see which would cause the most destruction and =
bring Japan to unconditional surrender).
To our =
President, it sounded like Japan had just issued the most ill-advised =
“Bring it on” ever made.
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] www.grif.net =
"Jesus Knows Me, This I =
Love!"