Anacreon Quotes
I both love and do not love; and am mad and not mad.
Anacreon. Fragment 428. The Deipnosophists, or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus, by Athenaeus, translated by C. D. Yonge, vol. 3, Henry G. Bohn, 1854, p. 907.
The Pentagon had requested 2 more battalions of Marines to protect the Danang Air Base in Vietnam. The President was persuaded that since the South Vietnamese could not be motivated to fight, that we would not likely defeat the Vietcong and that we should negotiate a an American exit. However, his security and military advisors told Johnson that unless the manpower request was granted, our major airbase in Vietnam could fall to the enemy with large American Casualties. And there was no assurance that the North Vietnamese would even be willing to negotiate. Johnson realized at that point in time that the Vietnam War was unwinnable unless we resorted to nuclear weapons. With American lives that needed “protection” the President was caught in the dilemma that brought down his administration. He again escalated the war when he wanted to do the opposite but felt that he could not.
Anacreon (/əˈnækriən/; Greek: Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; c. 582 – c. 485 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ancient Ionic dialect. Like all early lyric poetry, it was composed to be sung or recited to the accompaniment of music, usually the lyre. Anacreon's poetry touched on universal themes of love, infatuation, disappointment, revelry, parties, festivals and the observations of everyday people and life.
