Nicolas > Nicolas's Quotes

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  • #1
    Michel Foucault
    “The real political task in a society such as ours is to criticize the workings of institutions that appear to be both neutral and independent, to criticize and attack them in such a manner that the political violence that has always exercised itself obscurely through them will be unmasked, so that one can fight against them.”
    Michel Foucault, The Chomsky-Foucault Debate: On Human Nature

  • #2
    Karl Marx
    “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”
    Karl Marx

  • #3
    Naomi Klein
    “The widespread abuse of prisoners is a virtually foolproof indication that politicians are trying to impose a system--whether political, religious or economic--that is rejected by large numbers of the people they are ruling. Just as ecologists define ecosystems by the presence of certain "indicator species" of plants and birds, torture is an indicator species of a regime that is engaged in a deeply anti-democratic project, even if that regime happens to have come to power through elections.”
    Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

  • #4
    Ernesto Che Guevara
    “There are no boundaries in this struggle to the death. We cannot be indifferent to what happens anywhere in the world, for a victory by any country over imperialism is our victory; just as any country's defeat is a defeat for all of us.”
    Ernesto Che Guevara

  • #5
    Thomas Paine
    “Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.”
    thomas paine, Rights of Man

  • #6
    Antonio Gramsci
    “I'm a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.”
    Antonio Gramsci, Antonio Gramsci: Prison Letters

  • #7
    Antonio Gramsci
    “The point of modernity is to live a life without illusions while not becoming disillusioned”
    Antonio Gramsci

  • #8
    “The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

    We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

    We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

    We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

    These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

    These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

    Remember, to spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

    Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

    Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

    Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person might not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.”
    Bob Moorehead, Words Aptly Spoken

  • #9
    Bruce Springsteen
    “The great challenge of adulthood is holding on to your idealism after you lose your innocence.”
    Bruce Springsteen

  • #10
    Eric J. Hobsbawm
    “Historians are to nationalism what poppy-growers in Pakistan are to heroin-addicts: we supply the essential raw material for the market.”
    Eric Hobsbawn

  • #11
    Tony Benn
    “There is no moral difference between a Stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. They both kill innocent people for political reasons.”
    Tony Benn

  • #12
    Julian Assange
    “Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love. In a modern economy it is impossible to seal oneself off from injustice.

    If we have brains or courage, then we are blessed and called on not to frit these qualities away, standing agape at the ideas of others, winning pissing contests, improving the efficiencies of the neocorporate state, or immersing ourselves in obscuranta, but rather to prove the vigor of our talents against the strongest opponents of love we can find.

    If we can only live once, then let it be a daring adventure that draws on all our powers. Let it be with similar types whos hearts and heads we may be proud of. Let our grandchildren delight to find the start of our stories in their ears but the endings all around in their wandering eyes.
    The whole universe or the structure that perceives it is a worthy opponent, but try as I may I can not escape the sound of suffering.

    Perhaps as an old man I will take great comfort in pottering around in a lab and gently talking to students in the summer evening and will accept suffering with insouciance. But not now; men in their prime, if they have convictions are tasked to act on them.”
    Julian Assange

  • #13
    Mark Steel
    “The statement by Paul McCartney that, although he was a pacifist, he couldn’t be at this time of war. Which is as daft as being a vegetarian between meals.”
    Mark Steel, What’s Going On?: The Meanderings of a Comic Mind in Confusion

  • #14
    Mark Twain
    “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect).”
    Mark Twain

  • #15
    Antonio Gramsci
    “How many times have I wondered if it is really possible to forge links with a mass of people when one has never had strong feelings for anyone, not even one's own parents: if it is possible to have a collectivity when one has not been deeply loved oneself by individual human creatures. Hasn't this had some effect on my life as a militant--has it not tended to make me sterile and reduce my quality as a revolutionary by making everything a matter of pure intellect, of pure mathematical calculation?”
    Antonio Gramsci

  • #16
    Tom Waits
    “Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends.”
    Tom Waits

  • #17
    Tom Waits
    “I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.”
    Tom Waits

  • #18
    Michel Foucault
    “The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions and to participate in the formation of a political will (where he has his role as citizen to play).”
    Michel Foucault

  • #19
    “Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you're thinking in order to make your thinking better.”
    Richard Paul



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