John Ruskin book The Seven Lamps of Architecture
Source: The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849), Chapter II: The Lamp of Truth, section 1.
And that settled it. The master had spoken.
"What We Owe Our Parasites", speech (June 1968); Free Speech magazine (October and November 1995)
1990s
John Ruskin book The Seven Lamps of Architecture
Source: The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849), Chapter II: The Lamp of Truth, section 1.
Hannah Arendt book The Origins of Totalitarianism
Part 3, Ch. 2 The Totalitarian Movement, page 80 https://books.google.de/books?id=I0pVKCVM4TQC&pg=PT104&dq=A+mixture+of+gullibility+and+cynicism+had+been+an+outstanding+characteristic+of+mob+mentality+before+it+became+an+everyday+phenomenon+of+masses.&hl=de&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=A%20mixture%20of%20gullibility%20and%20cynicism%20had%20been%20an%20outstanding%20characteristic%20of%20mob%20mentality%20before%20it%20became%20an%20everyday%20phenomenon%20of%20masses.&f=false <br class="br">The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) <br class="br">Context: A mixture of gullibility and cynicism had been an outstanding characteristic of mob mentality before it became an everyday phenomenon of masses. In an ever-changing, incomprehensible, world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything is possible and that nothing was true. The mixture in itself was remarkable enough, because it spelled the end of the illusion that gullibility was a weakness of unsuspecting primitive souls and cynism the vice of superior and refined minds. Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow. The totalitarian mass leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that, under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness.
“But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.”
Wilfred Owen (1893–1918) English poet and soldier (1893-1918)
The Parable of the Old Man and the Young
Context: p>So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him, thy son.
Behold! Caught in a thicket by its horns,
A Ram. Offer the Ram of Pride instead.But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.</p
“What is too absurd to believe is believed because it is too absurd to be a lie.”
Sebban Balwer
(15 October 1994)
Source: Lord of Chaos
Darius I of Persia (-550–-486 BC) 3rd king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (550–486 BC)
As quoted in The Histories by Herodotus, 3.72 <br class="br">The validity of the quote is questionable. http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Heropers.html <br class="br">Attributed
Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie
To vary that old, old saying a little bit — I married no planter! I married a man who worked for the telephone company!
Amanda, Scene Six
The Glass Menagerie (1944)
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
"The Doctrine of Free Will"
1930s, Has Religion Made Useful Contributions to Civilization? (1930)
Morarji Desai (1896–1995) Former Indian Finance Minister, Freedom Fighters, Former prime minister
Morarji Desai speaks about life and celibacy