“It is true that discussion is allowed within the system. But the quarrels between right and left seem to me completely futile, for in every possible way they simply lead to an enhancement of the power of the state.”

— Jacques Ellul

Source: The Ethics of Freedom (1973 - 1974), p. 397
Context: When we speak of dialogue with the sovereign, it seems to me that this can be definitely initiated only on the basis of the greatest possible intransigence, for power today is completely alien to any real discussion. It is true that discussion is allowed within the system. But the quarrels between right and left seem to me completely futile, for in every possible way they simply lead to an enhancement of the power of the state.
Democracy is a mere trap with the party system as it is and a bureaucracy that cannot be altered. Discussion may go on about taxes and the improvement of social services. But power is totally deaf to the individual, indifferent to the interests of freedom, and ignorant of the true concerns of the nation. Only a radical opposition, i. e., an attack on the root of the situation, can engage it in authentic dialogue.

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Jacques Ellul 125

French sociologist, technology critic, and Christian anarch… 1912–1994

Khem Veasna (1971) Cambodian politician

Multi-Parties political platform (25 June 2013)

“Within our system of government every American has a right and duty to help shape the future course of the United States.”

Jimmy Carter (1924) American politician, 39th president of the United States (in office from 1977 to 1981)

Presidency (1977–1981), Farewell Address (1981)
Context: Within our system of government every American has a right and duty to help shape the future course of the United States.
Thoughtful criticism and close scrutiny of all government officials by the press and the public are an important part of our democratic society. Now as in our past, only the understanding and involvement of the people through full and open debate can help to avoid serious mistakes and assure the continued dignity and safety of the nation.

“Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

Clive Staples Lewis book Mere Christianity

Book III, Chapter 8, "The Great Sin"
Mere Christianity (1952)

“[The word system is often defined in a way] that seems the most appropriate for the purpose of any given discussion.”

A. Wayne Wymore (1927–2011) American mathematician

A. Wayne Wymore (1972) Systems Engineering Methodology for Interdisciplinary Teams. Department of Systems Engineering, The University of Arizona; As cited in: J.C. Heckman (1973, p. 39).

“It is also possible within this lifetime to enhance the power of the mind, enabling one to reaccess memories from previous lives. Such recollection tends to be more accessible during meditative experiences in the dream state. Once one has accessed memories of previous lives in the dream state, one gradually recalls them in the waking state.”

Tenzin Gyatso (1935) spiritual leader of Tibet

Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with The Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism (1999) ISBN 1559391278

“It is simply, and solely, the abundance of money within a state [which] makes the difference in its grandeur and power.”

Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683) French politician

Arthur John Sargent (1899), The Economic Policy of Colbert. p. 65

“The difference between the right and the left is this: the left lives in the imaginary world, always discusses what it would like to happen the right, that is us, live in the real world, we look to see what can be done”

Adonis Georgiadis (1972) Greek politician

As he said in the Greek parliament
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqZeImBRWjc

“By a state of a system is meant any well-defined condition or property that can be recognised if it occurs again. Every system will naturally have many possible states.”

W. Ross Ashby (1903–1972) British psychiatrist

Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part I: Mechanism, p. 25

“Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life.”

John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author

Muir's marginal note in volume I of Prose Works by Ralph Waldo Emerson (This volume is located at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University. See Albert Saijo, "Me, Muir, and Sierra Nevada", in Reinhabiting a Separate Country: A Bioregional Anthology of Northern California, edited by Peter Berg, San Francisco, California: Planet Drum Foundation, 1978, pages 52-59, at page 55, and Frederick W. Turner, Rediscovering America: John Muir in His Time and Ours (1985), page 193.)
1870s

“As to the issues on which we part ways with the Committee, I have already stated that our reviews indicate that the detention and interrogation program produced useful intelligence that helped the United States thwart attack plans, capture terrorists, and save lives. But let me be clear. We have not concluded that it was the use of EITs (Enhanced interrogation techniques) within that program that allowed us to obtain useful information from detainees subjected to them. The cause and effect relationship between the use of EITs and useful information subsequently provided by the detainee is, in my view, unknowable.”

John O. Brennan (1955) 7th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery CIA Director John O. Brennan Response to SSCI Study on the Former Detention and Interrogation Program https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/2014-speeches-testimony/remarks-as-prepared-for-delivery-cia-director-john-o-brennan-response-to-ssci-study-on-the-former-detention-and-interrogation-program.html

“It is true that discussion is allowed within the system. But the quarrels between right and left seem to me completely futile, for in every possible way they simply lead to an enhancement of the power of the state.”

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Jacques Ellul 125

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