Restoring the Sacred

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Maggie Smith and the Wisdom of Downton Abbey


                                            (photo from Wikipedia)

Today's Notable & Quotable in the Wall Street Journal is more than relevant today given the ongoing political campaigns after which our government will be brought under control or our freedoms will be further dissipated.
Feb. 1, 2016 7:02 p.m. ET
From a recent episode of the television show “Downton Abbey”:
Dowager Countess of Grantham ( Maggie Smith): For years I’ve watched governments take control of our lives, and their argument is always the same—fewer costs, greater efficiency. But the result is the same, too. Less control by the people, more control by the state, until the individual’s own wishes count for nothing. That is what I consider my duty to resist. . . .
The point of a so-called great family is to protect our freedoms. That is why the barons made King John sign Magna Carta. . . .
​Lady Rosamund (Samantha Bond): Mama, we’re not living in 1215. And the strength of great families like ours is going, that’s just fact.
​Dowager Countess of Grantham: Your great-grandchildren won’t thank you when the state is all-powerful because we didn’t fight.