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		Q U O T E--O F--T H E--D A Y Let the thinker beware When ideas are neglected by those who ought to attend to them -- that is to say, those who have been trained to think critically about ideas -- they often acquire an unchecked momentum and an irresistible power over multitudes of men that may grow too violent to be affected by rational criticism ... Over a hundred years ago, the German poet Heine warned the French not to underestimate the power of ideas: philosophical concepts nurtured in the stillness of a professor's study could destroy a civilization ... If professors can truly wield this fatal power, may it not be that only other professors, or, at least, other thinkers (and not governments or congressional committees) can alone disarm them? Our philosophers seem oddly unaware of these devastating effects of their activities. -- Philosopher Sir Isiah Berlin, who died Wednesday, aged 88. From "Two Concepts of Liberty," cited in a New York Times obituary. SALON | Nov. 10, 1997