Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
2017, Farewell Address (January 2017)
Dedication
Call Sign Chaos: Learning To Lead (2019)
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
2017, Farewell Address (January 2017)
“In this wicked and selfish world, with no essential values… being asshole is self-defense.”
Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer
Original: In questo mondo malvagio ed egoista, senza valori essenziali... essere stronzi è legittima difesa.
Source: prevale.net
Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
As quoted in Mao's Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-49: v. 5: Toward the Second United Front, January 1935-July 1937: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-49 https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=USEvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT861 (2017), p. 861, Routledge.
“It is we who create value and our desires which confer value. In this realm we are kings”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
1920s, What I Believe (1925)
Context: We are and irrefutable arbiters of value, and in the world of value Nature is only a part. Thus in this world we are greater than Nature. In the world of values, Nature in itself is neutral, neither good nor bad deserving of neither admiration nor censure. It is we who create value and our desires which confer value. In this realm we are kings, and we debase our kingship if we bow down to Nature. It is for us to determine our good life, not for Nature – not even for Nature personified as God.
Wilhelm Liebknecht (1826–1900) German socialist politician
As with the shorn hair, that signified his manhood’s honor, the strength of Samson disappeared, so the strength of our party would cease if we allowed the bourgeois Delilahs to flatter away our most precious jewel and the roots of our triumphal strength – the party purity, the party honor.
No Compromise – No Political Trading (1899)
Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate
Source: Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say (2000), p. 40.
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
2013, Second Inaugural Address (January 2013)
Context: My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction. And we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride. They are the words of citizens and they represent our greatest hope. You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course. You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time -- not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.
Ursula Goodenough (1943) American biologist
Quoted in "Speaking of Faith: The Morality of Nature" by Krista Tippett in American Public Media (7 April 2005) http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/moralityofnature/kristasjournal.shtml <br class="br">Context: I profess my Faith. For me, the existence of all this complexity and awareness and intent and beauty, and my ability to apprehend it, serves as the ultimate meaning and the ultimate value. The continuation of life reaches around, grabs its own tail, and forms a sacred circle that requires no further justification, no Creator, no super-ordinate meaning of meaning, no purpose other than that the continuation continue until the sun collapses or the final meteor collides. I confess a credo of continuation. And in so doing, I confess as well a credo of human continuation.
Tom Watson (Labour politician) (1967) British politician
Brexit: 'High price to pay' for Labour stance, says Watson https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48658683 BBC News (17 June 2019) <br class="br">2019