You remind of this dialogue from Julius Caesar:
Cassius:
Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life
Cuts off so many years of fearing death.

Brutus:
Grant that, and then is death a benefit:
So are we Caesar's friends, that have abridged
His time of fearing death.

Then why does he want to restore Columbus Day? He's contradicting himself.

The New World weren't discovered until the sixteenth century, so it was created by Columbus.

Both have their merit in their own way, I guess?