“The dominant mood of contemporary American culture is the self-celebration of the peasantry.”
William A. Henry III (1950–1994) American critic
In Defense of Elitism
Source: Think (1999), Chapter Three, Free Will, p. 105
“The dominant mood of contemporary American culture is the self-celebration of the peasantry.”
William A. Henry III (1950–1994) American critic
In Defense of Elitism
“The History of Religions is destined to play an important role in contemporary cultural life.”
Mircea Eliade (1907–1986) Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer and philosopher
The Quest: History and Meaning in Religion (1969), p. 3.
Context: The History of Religions is destined to play an important role in contemporary cultural life. This is not only because an understanding of exotic and archaic religions will significantly assist in a cultural dialogue with the representatives of such religions. It is more especially because … the history of religions will inevitably attain to a deeper knowledge of man. It is on the basis of such knowledge that a new humanism, on a world-wide scale, could develop.
“They're responsible for the problem [of cultural meanness].”
Bernard Goldberg (1945) American journalist
Referring to residents of both U.S. coasts.<br> Bernard Goldberg: Coastal residents "responsible for the problem" of vulgarity; http://mediamatters.org/items/200508120004 transcript of NBC Today Show (August 11, 2005)
Quiara Alegría Hudes (1977) American playwright and composer
On the concept of the border in “Quiara Alegría Hudes: Water by the Spoonful” https://www.guernicamag.com/water-by-the-spoonful/ in Guernica Magazine (2012 Jul 2)
Slavoj Žižek (1949) Slovene philosopher
John Gray, "The Violent Visions of Slavoj Žižek". The Guardian, July 12, 2012
Thomas Luckmann (1927–2016) American-Austrian sociologist
Source: The invisible religion, 1967, p. 40
Ralph Ellison (1914–1994) American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer
"Some Questions and Some Answers" (1958), in The Collected Essays, ed. John F. Callahan (New York: Modern Library, 1995), p. 298.
Kofi Annan (1938–2018) 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations
Truman Library address (2006)
Context: I believe we have a responsibility not only to our contemporaries but also to future generations — a responsibility to preserve resources that belong to them as well as to us, and without which none of us can survive. That means we must do much more, and urgently, to prevent or slow down climate change. Everyday that we do nothing, or too little, imposes higher costs on our children and our children’s children. Of course, it reminds me of an African proverb — the earth is not ours but something we hold in trust for future generations. I hope my generation will be worthy of that trust.
Richard A. Horsley (1939) Biblical scholar
Source: Religion and Empire: People, Power, and the Life of the Spirit (2003), p. 52