Michael Parenti (1933) American academic
Source: Democracy for the Few (2010 [1974]), sixth edition, Chapter 8, p. 127
Source: Meditations in Wall Street (1940), p. 99
Michael Parenti (1933) American academic
Source: Democracy for the Few (2010 [1974]), sixth edition, Chapter 8, p. 127
Derren Brown (1971) British illusionist
TV Series and Specials (Includes DVDs), Mind Control (1999–2000) or Inside Your Mind on DVD
“Can a person steal happiness? Or is just another internal, infernal human trick?”
Markus Zusak book The Book Thief
Source: The Book Thief
S. I. Hayakawa book Language in Thought and Action
Source: Language in Thought and Action (1949), The Symbolic Process, p. 24
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–1961) French phenomenological philosopher
Source: In Praise of Philosophy (1963), p. 59
Context: Machiavelli is the complete contrary of a machiavellian, since he describes the tricks of power and “gives the whole show away.” The seducer and the politician, who live in the dialectic and have a feeling and instinct for it, try their best to keep it hidden.
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
2014, 25th Anniversary of Polish Freedom Day Speech (June 2014)
Context: Our democracies must be defined not by what or who we’re against, but by a politics of inclusion and tolerance that welcomes all our citizens. Our economies must deliver a broader prosperity that creates more opportunity -- across Europe and across the world -- especially for young people. Leaders must uphold the public trust and stand against corruption, not steal from the pockets of their own people. Our societies must embrace a greater justice that recognizes the inherent dignity of every human being. And as we’ve been reminded by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, our free nations cannot be complacent in pursuit of the vision we share -- a Europe that is whole and free and at peace. We have to work for that. We have to stand with those who seek freedom.
Albert K. Cohen (1918–2014) American criminologist
Source: Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang, 1955, pp. 24-32
“It is your false self that keeps you away from your true Self by every trick it knows.”
Meher Baba (1894–1969) Indian mystic
7 Absolute Honesty, p. 8.
The Everything and the Nothing (1963)
Context: Absolute honesty is essential in one's search for God (Truth). The subtleties of the Path are finer than a hair. The least hypocrisy becomes a wave that washes one off the Path.
It is your false self that keeps you away from your true Self by every trick it knows. In the guise of honesty this self even deceives itself. For instance your self claims, I love Baba. The fact is, if you really loved Baba you would not be your false self making the self-asserting statement!