Ai Weiwei on Twitter in English (beta). http://aiwwenglish.tumblr.com/ (January 10, 2011)
2010-, Twitter feeds, 2010-12
“It is a mistake,” he said, “to suppose that the public wants the environment protected or their lives saved and that they will be grateful to any idealist who will fight for such ends. What the public wants is their own individual comfort. We know that well enough from our experience in the environmental crisis of the twentieth century.”
Section 1, Chapter 7, p. 56; the book is set in the year 2100.
The Gods Themselves (1972)
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Isaac Asimov 303
American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston Uni… 1920–1992Related quotes
“It is horrifying that we have to fight our own Government to save the environment.”
Sheff
David
May 1983
Playboy
http://davidsheff.com/article/ansel-adams/
Playboy Interview: Ansel Adams
226
“What the American public wants is a tragedy with a happy ending.”
As quoted in French Ways and Their Meaning http://www.archive.org/details/frenchwaysandthe00wharuoft (1919) by Edith Wharton, p. 65
Variant:
What the American public always wants is a tragedy with a happy ending.
As quoted in A Backward Glance http://archive.org/details/backwardglance030620mbp (1934) by Edith Wharton, p. 147
"A Place Called Hope," speech to the 1992 Democratic National Convention accepting the Democratic nomination for President (July 16, 1992)
1990s, A Place Called Hope (16 July 1992)
Letter to William Findley, Washington (21 March 1801); published in Thomas Jefferson - A chronology of his thoughts (2002) by Jerry Holmes, p. 175 http://books.google.de/books?id=iOHNKGJGo94C&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=It+is+rare+that+the+public+sentiment+decides+immorally+or+unwisely,+and+the+individual+who+differs+from+it+ought+to+distrust+and+examine+well+his+own+opinion&source=bl&ots=lUHnglNeTO&sig=OfEnoz8qmlxJq-5jIEvC8dD1hOk&hl=de&sa=X&ei=V_zAUPqeCsjGtAaZ-YGYDQ&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=It%20is%20rare%20that%20the%20public%20sentiment%20decides%20immorally%20or%20unwisely%2C%20and%20the%20individual%20who%20differs%20from%20it%20ought%20to%20distrust%20and%20examine%20well%20his%20own%20opinion&f=false
1800s, First Presidential Administration (1801–1805)
Sendak here quotes from King Lear by William Shakespeare : Men must endure their going hence, even as their coming hither: Ripeness is all.
NOW interview (2004)
Context: My big concern is me and what do I do now until the time of my death. That is valid. That is useful. That is beautiful. That is creative. And also, I want to be free again. I want to be free like when I was a kid … Where we just had fun. What I mean by this is I've had my career. I've had my success. God willing, it should have happened to Herman Melville who deserved it a great deal more, you know? Imagine him being on Bill Moyers' show. Nothing good happened to Herman Melville. I want to see me to the end working, living for myself. "Ripeness is all." Now, interpreting what ripeness is our own individual problem. … So, what is the point of it all? Not leaving legacies. But being ripe. Being ripe.
“This is the public health crisis of the century, and doctors should not have barriers.”
[The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/07/10/peter-navarro-hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus/, Touting criticized study, White House presses FDA to authorize hydroxychloroquine — again, McGinley, Laurie; Dawsey, Josh, July 10, 2020]