Fighting feeble with fire...

Chris Gruber at Open Source Politics deflates a bit of one of his co-blogger's arguement for ideological purity with some responsive quotations for "those of you who feel comfortable with voting for Ralph Nader" under the heading Practicality is no sin.

A sampling...

"To be proud of virtue is to poison oneself with the antidote."
Benjamin Franklin

"If one sticks too rigidly to one's principles, one would hardly see anybody."
Agatha Christie

"ZEAL: n. A certain nervous disorder afflicting the young and inexperienced. A passion that goeth before a sprawl."
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

"Principles have no real force except when one is well fed."
Mark Twain

"Nobody ever did anything very foolish except from some strong principle."
William Lamb Melbourne

There are more. I've saved 'em all. Don't wait on me to mete them out though. Go read.