Blogging Thucydides (III): A great line about how revolution deforms language

Describing the evil effects of revolution, Thucydides
writes, "Words had to change their
ordinary meaning and to take that which was now given them." (P. 199 of the
Landmark edition)

That's an insight that strikes me as true, and that I don't
remember seeing before.  Though Orwell's
wonderful essay on the
language of politics makes a similar point. (If you haven't read that, you should.
You have my permission to take off the rest of the day to study it.)