David Dixon Porter (1813–1891) United States Navy admiral
Source: 1880s, Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War (1885), p. 317
On prospects of a debate between Wesley Clark and George W. Bush, as quoted at Treason Online (29 October 2003) http://treasononline.blogspot.com/2003_10_26_archive.html <br class="br">2003
David Dixon Porter (1813–1891) United States Navy admiral
Source: 1880s, Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War (1885), p. 317
Ken Livingstone (1945) Mayor of London between 2000 and 2008
Remarks at a public meeting criticising George W. Bush (8 May 2003) , as quoted in "Mayor's Amazing Attack on Bush" by Ross Lydall in the Evening Standard (8 May 2003)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)
"Remarks at the Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln" http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/speeches/19540423%20Remarks%20at%20the%20Birthplace%20of%20Abraham%20Lincoln.htm, Hodgenville, Kentucky (April 23, 1954). The story originates http://books.google.com/books?id=AsrfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA128 from F. A. Mitchel, son and aide of General Mitchel. <br class="br">1950s
David Mitchell book Cloud Atlas
The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing, Monday, 13th January —, p. 528
Cloud Atlas (2004)
Context: Scholars discern motions in history & formulate these motions into rules that govern the rises & falls of civilizations. My belief runs contrary, however. To wit: history admits no rules; only outcomes.
What precipitates outcomes? Vicious acts & virtuous acts.
What precipitates acts? Belief.
Belief is both prize & battlefield, within the mind & in the mind’s mirror, the world. If we believe humanity is a ladder of tribes, a colosseum of confrontation, exploitation & bestiality, such a humanity is surely brought into being, & history’s Horroxes, Boer-haaves & Gooses shall prevail. You & I, the moneyed, the privileged, the fortunate, shall not fare so badly in this world, provided our luck holds. What of it if our consciences itch? Why undermine the dominance of our race, our gunships, our heritage & our legacy? Why fight the “natural” (oh, weaselly word!) order of things?
Why? Because of this: — one fine day, a purely predatory world shall consume itself. Yes, the Devil shall take the hindmost until the foremost is the hindmost. In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.
Is this the doom written within our nature?
If we believe that humanity may transcend tooth & claw, if we believe divers races & creeds can share this world as peaceably as the orphans share their candlenut tree, if we believe leaders must be just, violence muzzled, power accountable & the riches of the Earth & its Oceans shared equitably, such a world will come to pass. I am not deceived. It is the hardest of worlds to make real. Torturous advances won over generations can be lost by a single stroke of a myopic president’s pen or a vainglorious general’s sword.
“The young are really the heirs to a generation of incompetence.”
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar-- a professor of English literature, a literary critic, and a …
1970s, Culture Is Our Business (1970)
Ashleigh Brilliant (1933) American author and cartoonist
From WHAT MATTERS MOST, a lecture given by Ashleigh Brilliant, May 6 2007, Victoria Hall, Santa Barbara, California. Taken from the author's website: ashleighbrilliant.com
Gore Vidal (1925–2012) American writer
After being asked "Does someone as sophisticated as you are submit yourself to the conspiracy theory of history?""
1980s, At The David Susskind Show (1980)
Mark Pesce (1962) American writer
An Afternoon with Mark Pesce: The Uncut Version http://hyperreal.org/~mpesce/interview.html