Monday, June 04, 2018
Updating a Hymn
George Orwell, "The Prevention of Literature," The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters, IV: In Front of Your Nose, 1945-1950 (London: Secker & Warburg, 1968), pp. 59-72 (at 60):
Newer› ‹Older
In the past, at any rate throughout the Protestant centuries, the idea of rebellion and the idea of intellectual integrity were mixed up. A heretic — political, moral, religious, or aesthetic — was one who refused to outrage his own conscience. His outlook was summed up in the words of the Revivalist hymn:
Dare to be a Daniel,To bring this hymn up to date one would have to add a "Don't" at the beginning of each line.
Dare to stand alone;
Dare to have a purpose firm,
Dare to make it known.
