Question About Harry Lime's Famous Quote
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jd-276 — 13 years ago(November 11, 2012 03:03 AM)
I have lived in Switzerland. My ex was Swiss. Switzerland is an incredibly conservative country, if indeed it really functions as a country at all. The Swiss concept of federalism is very loose.
Are you actually serious about the relevance of the 18th Century to this topic? I reckon you're just uncomfortable with the idea that a country which advocates policies and ideals like those of Sweden could be successful. On top of that, Sweden had an edge in some military technologies in the 1960s to 1980s which made the US feel pretty uneasy to the point of threats of a trade embargo. That's how childish it got. In the early 1990s they sold the US a lot of their datalink technology but they made sure they got something out of it in return. Apparently that didn't go down very well either, especially since they now have the technology to see some of your stealth aircraft (so does Australia).
But I digress- Palme was not representative of all Sweden and many Swedes were embarrassed by him. He dared criticise you over Vietnam. Should he be obliged to stay quiet over that? Was the US above criticism? He was divisive and not very straight. Every country has its political wild men, including yours;
- Same could be said for Switzerland and Switzerland did not have a very good record for handling refugees or Nazi money;
- What problems did Sweden have with "immogrants" (
sic
) that they turned a blind eye to? When did they criticise the US for racism and why are you so thin-skinned about it? Wasn't it justified? - Irrelevant. Kind of fun but I'm not going any further with it.
Indeed.
It took until 1989 for Europe to recover, Western Europe included.
Done with you.
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pmiano100 — 12 years ago(August 26, 2013 05:31 PM)
- Then why did they elect him? Who cares about Vietnam? Everybody criticized us for that one. He was not treated as a wildman, and you know it. He was treated like a European Gandhi, another fool. I'm glad he's dead. Vietnam wasn't the only thing he criticized us for. Were all the European countries perfect?
- The Swiss were small, weak, and surrounded. What was the Swede's excuse?
- Sweden is having major problems with its Turkish immigrants which are well-documented. Apparently they don't like them entering the Swedish mainstream and dating their blondes. My problem is with their hypocrisy. Their criticism was not justified because a) It was none of their business, b) we were working to improve things, and c)ultimately, they were no better.
- Sweden isn't as successful as you think. It's having economic problems too. The 18th Century is relevant because it shows Sweden was warlike until it got a major beat-down. Then they decided not to fight, but to sell to everyone who did.
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michael_wallace_ellwood — 12 years ago(August 25, 2013 10:21 AM)
Do you mean Olof Palme?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Olof_Palme
Looks like your knowledge of Swedish history is about as accurate as your knowledge of Swedish cuisine? -
pmiano100 — 12 years ago(August 26, 2013 05:22 PM)
Okay, so I gooofed up on a name. My bad. But the fact remains that Sweden was a warlike country until it got its butt kicked, like many others. That's what is relevant. Also, Sweden's history of selling to both sides during wars while staying "neutral" is well documented. It's central policy is to make nice to the apparent winner and assume America will always forgive, which it always does. As for cuisine, don't get smart with me. You'd probably go into a restaurant in Shanghai and order chop suey.
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michael_wallace_ellwood — 12 years ago(August 27, 2013 03:15 AM)
Sweden gave the world Wallander and IKEA, so they can't be all bad.
I care nothing about cuisine, but I just find it funny when Americans judge (or rather mis-judge) the cuisine of other countries, based on what gets served up to them in their own country, which just happens to have a foreign name. However, looking back, I see you have already apologised to a Swede for getting this all wrong, so let it pass. However, you haven't apologised to the Swede for saying his country should be nuked for such an offence against culinary purity. You were presumably "joking" of course (though one can never be sure), but such "jokes" are about as "funny" as saying one has an explosive device in one's luggage at airport security. -
pmvk — 14 years ago(January 20, 2012 07:34 AM)
Well, according to Wikipedia (an unquestionable source
) abroad the cuckoo clock is not only a symbol of the Schwarzwald and of Germany, but, because of the cultural similarities and the popularity of these clocks, also of Switzerland and Austria.
But your observation is correct. Even if Switzerland is famous for its tradition of watch manufacturing, cuckoo clocks are traditionally produced in the Black Forest in southwestern Germany.
For me the associations contained in the cuckoo clock are similar to those of the garden gnome. -
onex-ge — 13 years ago(December 06, 2012 08:39 PM)
Well, Lime's certainly wrong about the brotherly love, democracy, and peace, as the Swiss cantons had their own civil wars and peasant rebellions. And Lime overlooks the fact that much of the mayhem that wracked N. Italy during the Renaissance was wreaked by mercenary companies raised and hired out by some of the Swiss cantons however, when the mercenaries found themselves on opposite sides fighting each other, the Swiss got out of the mercenary business.
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Jamesir_Bensonmum — 12 years ago(February 11, 2014 12:21 PM)
The statement is wrong and probably Harry even knew this in-universe.
I think it is used to show how manipulative and amoral Harry Lime is. He is just straight-up lying.
Oh I don't know if Harry knew the statement was wrong.
Harry's point was not a "dig" at the culture of the Swiss people (as some others here have suggested). He was using the Swiss as an allegorical example. Harry's meaning was that peaceful times bring complacency and stagnation, while conflict can give rise to great ideas and great culture.
Of course Harry is most likely wrong about that, but perhaps he believed it himself.
I don't think Carol Reed or Orson Welles actually thought the words were true. All that matters is if Harry thought the words were true (or, as you pointed out, all that may matter is if Harry wants Holly to think it is true in order to justify his actions).