Quotes About Society

The greatest moral failing of meritocracy is the belief that your success, your higher perch in society, makes you superior in any fundamental sense. After all, in democracies, at least, the people's wishes are the ultimate source of authority. So, let's be clear, as we navigate this pandemic and future crises, people need to listen to the experts. But the experts also need to listen to the people.

Cas Mudde, a Dutch political scientist, provides the most useful definition of populism: an ideology "that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogenous and antagonistic groups: 'the pure people' and 'the corrupt elite,' and argues that politics should be an expression of the volonté générale (general will) of the people.

Cities are an ideal way to organize human beings for modern life—allowing them to mingle, work, and play, all in the same place.

The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself." That

When you're with a man, no one tells you he's a creep; they don't like to; they think, well, that's her choice, perhaps ours isn't up to much either; how will we ever be sure, in this polite world? In other words, as we all know, one woman's creep is another's true love, and just as well.

Ricos y pobres, parece que los estadounidenses ven la bancarrota como un «derecho inalienable», casi en igualdad de condiciones con «la vida, la libertad y la búsqueda de la felicidad».

displayed in the society's collection? Would

Without madness what is man But a wholesome beast, Postponed corpse that begets?

I can breathe easier now that the appointments are behind me. I missed them all, through deliberate negligence, Having waited for the urge to go, which I knew wouldn't come. I'm free, and against organized, clothed society. I'm naked and plunge into the water of my imagination.

Let others take up my madness And all that went with it. Without madness what is man But a healthy beast, A postponed corpse that breeds?

Tudo o mais é uma grande maçada para quem está presente por acaso. E a sociedade em que nascemos é o lugar onde mais por acaso estamos presentes.

What once was moral is now, for us, aesthetic … What was social is now individual

Nuestros padres destruyeron alegremente porque vivían en una época que todavía tenía reflejos de la solidez del pasado. Era aquello mismo que destruían lo que prestaba fuerza a la sociedad para que pudiesen destruir sin sentir agrietarse al edificio. Nosotros heredamos la destrucción y sus resultados.

All pleasure is a vice because seeking pleasure is what everyone does in life, and the worst vice of all is to do what everyone else does.

The belief that the main task in life is obtaining freedom from the tyranny of 'social fictions'. Money is the most important social fiction; one escapes its tyranny by acquiring it.

3. (…) En la vida de hoy, el mundo sólo pertenece a los estúpidos, a los insensibles y a los agitados. El derecho a vivir y a triunfar se conquista hoy con los mismos procedimientos con que se conquista el internamiento en un manicomio: la incapacidad de pensar, la amoralidad y la hiperexcitación. —Libro del Desasosiego, Fernando Pessoa—

Between an American millionaire, a Caesar or Napoleon, or Lenin and the Socialist boss of a village there is no qualitative difference, only quantitative.

kendilerini vaktiyle deha sanm??, oysa düÅŸ gücünden yoksun birer dilenci olmaktan öteye gidememiÅŸ döküntülerin aras?na kar??acak, hayatta ne baÅŸar?ya ulaÅŸabilmiÅŸ, ne de her ÅŸeyi elinin tersiyle itmeyi becerip öbür türlü baÅŸar? kazanabilmiÅŸ o isimsiz kalabal?kta eriyeceÄŸim.

Nella vita odierna il mondo appartiene agli stolti, agli indifferenti e agli attivisti. Oggi il diritto di vivere e di trionfare si ottiene praticamente con gli stessi requisiti con cui si ottiene il ricovero in un manicomio: l'incapacità di pensare, l'amoralità e l'eccessiva agitazione.

Credo, ideal, mulher ou profissão - tudo isso é a cela e as algemas.

O que é certo é que entre um homem vulgar e um macaco há menos diferença que entre um homem vulgar e um homem realmente culto.

Ah, che errore doloroso e crasso quel distinguo che i rivoluzionari fanno tra borghesia e popolo, tra aristocrazia e popolo o tra governanti e governati. La vera distinzione risiede tra adattati e disadattati: il resto e letteratura e per di più cattiva letteratura. 176 [1929]

Y fue así que nos despertamos en un mundo ávido de novedades sociales y que alegremente se lanzaba hacia la conquista de una libertad que no se sabía muy bien lo que era y de un progreso que jamás pudo definir.

I'm convinced that in a perfect, civilized world there would be no other art but prose.