Quotes About Society

It has often been said that one of the characteristics of the modern world is the disappearance of any meaningful rites of initiation.

Perhaps all of us are crazy, Ona says. Of course we're all crazy, says Mejal. How can we not be?

Yoli, she said, I'm just saying that apologies aren't the bedrock of civilized society. All right! I said. I agree. But what is the bedrock of civilized society? Libraries, said Elf.

El més important no és preguntar-se si les dones són animals sinó si les dones s'han de venjar del mal que se'ls ha fet. O bé si han de perdonar els homes i, amb això, aconseguir que se'ls obrin les portes del cel.

Un moment, diu la Mariche, el que voleu dir és que els assaltants són tan víctimes com les víctimes dels assalts? Que tots nosaltres, homes i dones, som víctimes de les circumstàncies a partir de les quals es va crear Molotschna?

But what is the bedrock of civilized society? Libraries, said Elf.

Teku ljudi po ulicama, mi?u se lica u povorkama, lica naprahana, blijeda, klaunska, sa zarezima goru?eg karmina oko usana, kratkovidne maske žena u crnini, lica grbavaca, donje ?eljusti, voštani dugi prsti sa crnim, modrikastim noktima, sve prili?no ružno. Gadna lica, zvjerske njuške, žigosane bludom i porocima, zlobom i brigama, lica smolava i ugrijana, glave mrkvaste, gubice crna?ke, zubala tvrda, oštra, mesožderska, a sve je sivo kao fotografski negativ.

O, lijepe moje slatke lutke! Svi smo mi igra?ke u bazaru civilizacije! Svira?i, dame, no?ni desperateri, paralitici, svi se mi mi?emo u izlogu civilizacije po pravilu. Navinuli su nas, igraju se nama, a onda nas bacaju u sme?e!

Absolute hospitality would in no way amount to the absence of violence. To the contrary, it would enthrone violence precisely under the guise of nonviolence because it would leave the violators unchanged and the consequences of violence unremedied.

People are only mean when they're threatened, and that's what our culture does...And when you get threatened, you start looking out only for yourself. You start making money a god. It is all part of this culture.

People are only mean when they're threatened, and that's what our culture does. That's what our economy does

Napoleon once dismissed religion as 'what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.' Meaning, without the fear of God--or literally the hell we might have to pay--the rest of us would just take what we wanted.

Do you know how they brainwash people? They repeat something over and over. And that's what we do in this country. Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More commercialism is good. More is good. More is good. We repeat it-- and have it repeated to us-- over and over until nobody bothers to even think otherwise. The average person is so fogged up by all this, he has no perspective on what's really important anymore.

Why humans kill each other is beyond my comprehension, but I can testify that you have been doing it since your inception. Only the weapons change.

Morrie believed in the inherent good of people. But he also saw what they could become. "People are only mean when they're threatened," he said later that day, "and that's what our culture does. That's what our economy does. Even people who have jobs in our economy are threatened, because they worry about losing them. And when you get threatened, you start looking out only for yourself. You start making money a god. It is all part of this culture.

The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves.

People are only mean when they're threatened and that's what our culture does. That's what our economy does. Even people who have jobs in our economy are threatened, because they worry about loosing them. And when you get threatened, you start looking out only for yourself. You start making money a god. It is all part of this culture.

The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it.

Each time we talk, he listens to me ramble, then he tries to pass on some sort of life lesson. He warns me that money is not the most important thing, contrary to the popular view on campus. He tells me I need to be fully human. He speaks of the alienation of youth and the need for connectedness with the society around me.

The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it.

He tells me I need to be "fully human." He speaks of the alienation of youth and the need for "connectedness" with the society around me.

I remembered what Morrie said during our visit: The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it.

There's a big confusion in this country over what we want versus what we need," Morrie said.

In light of this, my visits with Morrie felt like a cleansing rinse of human kindness. We talked about life and we talked about love. We talked about one of Morrie's favourite subjects, compassion and why our society had such a shortage of it.