# Hitler quotes in high school yearbook **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 13, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597 "2006-06-13T18:07:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/41 "2006-06-18T19:50:57Z")
I don’t know the kid in question, but in this case, it seems probable to me that he was trying to make a commentary on the current occupant of the White House. I mean, the kid wasn’t using an obscure Hitler quote that suggested racial minorities should be killed- he was using a FAMOUS Hitler quote, one that suggests we shouldn’t trust everything our leaders say, because some of them are lying to us. In all likelihood, the kid wasn’t endorsing the Nazis- he was using Hitler as an example of what can happen when people blindly accept whatever the government tells them. If that’s the case, the kid wasn’t doing anything offensive. I’d undoubtedly disagree with his political stances, but I’d defend his right to use it, in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/42 "2006-06-19T17:47:28Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] I don’t know the kid in question, but in this case, it seems probable to me that he was trying to make a commentary on the current occupant of the White House. [/quote] I think that’s very likely. A lot of people have used a Joseph Goebbels quote about convincing people that they are under attack as a similar criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/43 "2006-06-19T19:41:40Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] I don’t know the kid in question, but in this case, it seems probable to me that he was trying to make a commentary on the current occupant of the White House. I mean, the kid wasn’t using an obscure Hitler quote that suggested racial minorities should be killed- he was using a FAMOUS Hitler quote, one that suggests we shouldn’t trust everything our leaders say, because some of them are lying to us. [/QUOTE] That’s certainly how I read it. > [@interface2x](#): > > Well, yeah, but he would have said it in German. If that’s not evil, I don’t know what is. And he would have said it in that gothic type face! If something is written in German in that type face, it just _has_ to be evil. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/44 "2006-06-19T22:28:14Z")
[QUOTE=Kimstu] Anybody who really thinks that Gandhi’s rhetorical olive-branches, such as the use of the term “friend”, meant that Gandhi was actually a supporter of Hitler’s policies is completely ignorant of the facts of the matter. [/QUOTE] Probably you weren’t addressing this to me, and understood that this quoting out of context was my point in using it (as you’ve clarified). I just wanted to make sure it was more clear from myself. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/45 "2006-06-20T20:54:59Z")
[QUOTE=FilmGeek] “Strength lies not in defense, but in attack.” So, if he had said “The best defense is a good offense” he’d have been okay, huh? [/QUOTE] Wasn’t the latter quote from Mel, the cook on “Alice”? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/46 "2006-06-21T00:19:09Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Probably you weren’t addressing this to me, and understood that this quoting out of context was my point in using it (as you’ve clarified). Right you are, **jack**. It’s an excellent example of misleading editing; I just wanted to make sure that nobody would be misled by it into thinking that Gandhi actually supported Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/47 "2006-06-21T21:21:45Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] Wasn’t the latter quote from Mel, the cook on “Alice”? [/QUOTE] [Boot to the head!](http://fun-ideas.blogspot.com/2006/04/frantics.html)😃 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/48 "2006-06-22T11:19:10Z")
[QUOTE=rjung] [Boot to the head!](http://fun-ideas.blogspot.com/2006/04/frantics.html)😃 [/QUOTE] You gain wisdom, child! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/49 "2006-06-22T14:48:29Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Schools get sued for a lot less than that. I could see a litigous Jewish parent claiming emotional distress on behalf of their child, for example. It might get thrown out of court, but it would still cost the school a bundle and the advisor his job. Disclaimers wouldn’t work because the yearbook is an official publication of the school. The principal is responsible for everything in it. It isn’t a newspaper printing an editorial or reader’s letters. Different rules apply. [/QUOTE] Anyone with the filing fee can sue anyone over any reason. That’s no reason to run scared. In fatc- it’s a damn stupid reason. And, I’d like a cite showing that the schools principal is legally responsible for every bit of content in the Yearbook. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/50 "2006-06-22T18:14:04Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I think that’s very likely. A lot of people have used a Joseph Goebbels quote about convincing people that they are under attack as a similar criticism. [/QUOTE] From a more savory source, may I add: _I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations._ - James Madison _It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad._ - James Madison ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597/51 "2006-06-22T19:29:40Z")
If you want a prime example of a (mostly) benevolent dictatorship, you don’t need to look any further than your local public high school. Do I think banning the quotes simply because of the source is both idiotic and setting a dangerous precedent? Yes. Do I think it’s really an important issue? No. The kids are graduating, anyway, and if they’re anything like me\* they’ll have forgotten entirely about it a few months from now. \*I originally wanted my senior quote to be “I hated everything about this place and every minute I spent here.” Oddly enough, they told me to pick something else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-quotes-in-high-school-yearbook/360597.md?page=2)