From George Orwell
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
From Andre Schriffin, “The Business of Books” Verso
If the domain of ideas is surrendered to those who want to make the most money, then the debate which is so essential to a functioning democracy will not take place.
From Voltaire
What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other’s folly – that is the first law of nature.
From Laurie Sheck’s Notebook
The light of the world we live in: neon, frenzied, traffic lights, marquee lights, ambulance light, high crime lights, television screens, their flickering, and strobe lights, headlights. This quickness.
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If one had no belief in human goodness, in tenderness, or any hope for it, could one feel terror?
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If I am watching the 11 o’clock news and there is a person on the screen suffering, mutilated, grieving, whatever, and that person doesn’t feel real to me, or only real in the most cursory and fleeting of ways, aren’t I participating in the violation and degradation of that person? Poetry is subversive in that it stands in opposition to vicarious, distanced watching, to spectatorship and morbid curiosity.
From The Wire
Omar Little (Michael Kenneth Wiliams):
I’ll do what I can to help y’all. But, the game’s out there, and it’s play or get played. That simple.
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Ayo, lesson here, Bey. You come at the king, you best not miss.
From “Zombie feminists of the RNC”
by Rebecca Traister
In this “Handmaid’s Tale”-inflected universe, in which femininity is worshipped but females will be denied rights, CNBC pundit Donny Deutsch tells us that we’re witnessing “a new creation … of the feminist ideal,” the feminism being so ideal because instead of being voiced by hairy old bats with unattractive ideas about intellect and economy and politics and power, it’s now embodied by a woman who, according to Deutsch, does what Hillary Clinton did not: “put a skirt on.” “I want her watching my kids,” says Deutsch. “I want her laying next to me in bed.”
Welcome to 2008, the year a tough, wonky woman won a primary (lots of them, actually), an inspiring black man secured his party’s nomination for the presidency, and a television talking head felt free to opine that a woman is qualified for executive office because he wants to bed her and have her watch his kids! Stop the election; I want to get off.
Read the article at Salon
From Talmud
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
From Mad Men “The Gold Violin”
Bertram Cooper (Robert Morse): People buy things to realize their aspirations. It’s the foundation of business.
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From William Blake
I must create a system or be enslaved by another man’s; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.
From Jane Wagner
“The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool.”
Oh and how it abounds.
