The Issue (1908)
Context: If it had not been for the discontent of a few fellows who had not been satisfied with their conditions, you would still be living in caves. Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization.
Progress is born of agitation. It is agitation or stagnation.
“If civilization had been left in female hands, we would still be living in grass huts.”
Source: Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson (1990), p. 38
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Camille Paglia 326
American writer 1947Related quotes
This contradiction was first pointed out by David Frawley
The Rigveda and the Avesta (2008)
Source: Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 2 (2013), p. 4
“Malebranche would have it that not a soul is left; we humbly think that there still are hearts.”
Malebranche dirait qu’il n’y a plus une âme:
Nous pensons humblement qu’il reste encor des cœurs.
Prelude
Chantecler (1910)
“Had I been a dictator, I would still be governing.”
Speech (December 31, 1995), quoted in "Las frases para el bronce de Pinochet."
1990s
Under der linden
an der heide,
dâ unser zweier bette was,
dâ mugt ir vinden
schône beide
gebrochen bluomen unde gras.
"Under der linden", line 1; translation by Raymond Oliver. http://colecizj.easyvserver.com/pgvogund.htm
Source: It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (2000), p. 267
Context: Anything is possible. You can be told you have a 90-percent chance or a 50-percent chance or a 1-percent chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight. By fight I mean arm yourself with all the available information, get second opinions, third opinions, and fourth opinions. Understand what has invaded your body, and what the possible cures are. It's another fact of cancer that the more informed and empowered patient has a better chance of long-term survival. What if I had lost? What if I relapsed and the cancer came back? I still believe I would have gained something in the struggle, because in what time I had left I would have been a more complete, compassionate, and intelligent man, and therefore more alive.