Thomas Jefferson | When government fears the people
"When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."
Thomas Jefferson
Posts
Lemmy Kilmister | They feed you the stuff every day on TV
in Lemmy Kilmister„They feed you the stuff every day on TV and you think it's all different, don't you? All the time, right? And it's always the same. Jesus i can't go on anywhere you know“
Lemmy Kilmister
Adyashanti | Enlightenment is a destructive process
in Adyashanti"Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It’s seeing through the facade of pretense. It’s the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true."
Adyashant
Vince Ebert | Political correctness
in Vince Ebert"Political correctness has now reached a level in our society that I see as highly questionable. It starts with the deletion of more and more postings in the social media. Postings, mind you, with content that is clearly not punishable or otherwise legally actionable. The mere fact that a certain group might feel offended by a text is enough. More and more companies and corporations are joining this unfortunate trend and issuing internal memos about required language rules or how to deal with certain topics, the disregard of which can lead to serious consequences for employees. Again, these are not criminal or justiciable matters (which, of course, should rightly be stopped), but rather some of the most harmless formulations and matters that are actually covered by the right to freedom of expression. What I find most alarming, however, is the development at our universities. Places where the free exchange of ideas and opinions should actually be part of the basic equipment. Almost every day, professors, doctoral students and other university staff tell me that they would now be risking their careers if they were to publicly question or criticize current developments at universities. Theses and assertions have even become established there in the meantime, some of which contradict a fundamental scientific factual basis. Unfortunately, I do not see the end of the line. I think it will get much worse."
Vince Ebert
Karl Kraus | How is the world ruled and led to war?
in Karl Kraus"How is the world ruled and led to war? Diplomats lie to journalists and believe these lies when they see them in print."
Karl Kraus
Bhagavad-Gita | With the destruction of the family
in Bhagavad-Gita"With the destruction of the family, the spiritual traditions of the family perish forever; when spiritual values are destroyed, then unrighteousness predominates the entire society."
Bhagavad-Gita
Noam Chomsky | Therefore it’s important to distract them
in Noam Chomsky"The bewildered herd is a problem. We’ve got to prevent their roar and trampling. We’ve got to distract them. They should be watching the Superbowl or sitcoms or violent movies. Every once in a while you call on them to chant meaningless slogans like "Support our troops." You’ve got to keep them pretty scared, because unless they’re properly scared and frightened of all kinds of devils that are going to destroy them from outside or inside or somewhere, they may start to think, which is very dangerous, because they’re not competent to think. Therefore it’s important to distract them and marginalize them."
Noam Chomsky
Yuval Noah Harari | to gain control over the world
in Yuval Noah HarariI mean science, as an institution, is interested in gaining the power — to gain control over the world
Yuval Noah Harari
Gore Vidal | As societies grow decadent
in Gore Vidal"As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests."
Gore Vidal
Niccolò Machiavelli | majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances
in Niccolò Machiavelli"For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are."
Niccolò Machiavelli
Leonard E. Feeney | Having a television in your home
in Leonard E. Feeney"Having a television in your home is like having a Jew in your living room."
Fr. Leonard E. Feeney
H. P. Lovecraft | It is not a true civilization
in H. P. Lovecraft"It is not a true civilization, and has nothing in it to satisfy a mature and fully developed human mind. It is attuned to the mentality of the galley-slave and the moron, and crushes relentlessly with disapproval, ridicule, and economic annihilation any sign of actually independent thought and civilised feeling whith chances to rise above its sodden level. It is a treadmill, squirrel-trap culture – drugged and frenzied with the hashish of industrial servitude and material luxury. It is wholly a material body-culture, and its symbol is the tiled bathroom and steam radiator rather than the Doric portico and the temple of philosophy. Its denizens do not live or know how to live."
H. P. Lovecraft
General Aladeen | Why are you guys so anti-dictators?
in Der Diktator, General Aladeen, Sacha Baron Cohen"Why are you guys so anti-dictators? Imagine if America was a dictatorship. You could let 1% of the people have all the nation's wealth. You could help your rich friends get richer by cutting their taxes. And bailing them out when they gamble and lose. You could ignore the needs of the poor for health care and education. Your media would appear free, but would secretly be controlled by one person and his family. You could wiretap phones. You could torture foreign prisoners. You could have rigged elections. You could lie about why you go to war. You could fill your prisons with one particular racial group, and no one would complain. You could use the media to scare the people into supporting policies that are against their interests."
General Aladeen
George Orwell | These people don’t see that
in George Orwell"These people don’t see that if you encourage totalitarian methods, the time may come when they will be used against you instead of for you."
Barry Jünemann | Faith is the graveyard of many truths
in Barry Jünemann"And still, no one knows! And the truth remains hidden. Faith is the graveyard of many truths. And the mortician is the system of the self-appointed rulers of this earth. However, people often decorate it with the flowers of ignorance! Faith is the most dangerous instrument of the system since ancient Babylon.... and nobody notices it!"
Barry Jünemann
Bertrand Russell | Fear is the main source of superstition
in Bertrand Russell"Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom."
Bertrand Russell
Kurt Tucholsky | Give people more sleep
in Kurt Tucholsky"Give people more sleep - and they will be more awake when they are awake."
Kurt Tucholsky
Voltaire | our hope our illusion
in Voltaire"One day everything will be well, that is our hope. Everything's fine today, that is our illusion"
Voltaire
Salvador Dalí | One day it will have to be officially admitted
in Salvador Dalí"One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams."
Salvador Dalí
Alice Bailey | The Masonic Movement
in Alice Bailey“The Masonic Movement when it can be divorced from politics and social ends and from its present paralyzing condition of inertia, will meet the need of those who can, and should, wield power. It is the custodian of the law; it is the home of the Mysteries and the seat of initiation. It holds in its symbolism the ritual of Deity, and the way of salvation is pictorially preserved in its work. The methods of Deity are demonstrated in its Temples, and under the All-seeing Eye the work can go forward. It is a far more occult organization than can be realized, and is intended to be the training school for the coming advanced occultists. In its ceremonials lies hid the wielding of the forces connected with the growth and life of the kingdoms of nature and the unfoldment of the divine aspects in man. In the comprehension of its symbolism will come the power to cooperate with the divine plan. It meets the need of those who work on the first Ray of Will or Power.”
Alice Bailey
Harald Schmidt | I also know who among the authors is currently behind with their alimony payments
in Harald Schmidt"I buy the FAZ on paper - and read NZZ, Spiegel and Bild online before the paywall. But I am just as informed as if I had subscribed to it. When I see the headline and the author, I already know what the text says. I also know who among the authors is currently behind with their alimony payments and therefore has to write in a certain direction."
Harald Schmidt
Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann | The process of struggling for public opinion
in Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann"The process of struggling for public opinion has nothing to do with truth, but with domination."
Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann
George Bernard Shaw | I’m known for my irony
in George Bernard Shaw"I'm known for my irony. But the idea of erecting a Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor would not have occurred to even me."
George Bernard Shaw
Manly P. Hall | When the human race learns to read the language of symbolism
in Manly P. Hall"When the human race learns to read the language of symbolism, a great veil will fall from the eyes of men. They shall then know truth and, more than that, they shall realize that from the beginning truth has been in the world unrecognized, save by a small but gradually increasing number appointed by the Lords of the Dawn as ministers to the needs of human creatures struggling co regain their consciousness of divinity."
Manly P. Hall
Leo Tolstoy | The Anarchists are right in everything
in Leo Tolstoi, Leo Tolstoy"The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order and in the assertion that, without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that anarchy can be instituted by a violent revolution. But it will be instituted only by there being more and more people who do not require the protection of governmental power and by there being more and more people who will be ashamed of applying this power."
Leo Tolstoy
Alexander Wagandt | Ideology is what is still holding the whole system together
in Alexander Wagandt"Ideology is what is still holding the whole system together and when that is no longer there.... When people really wake up and realize that they are being held in a mental prison by mental dwarfs, that power dwindles exponentially fast and that is where we are headed. Everything is based on mental, moronic, anti-nature and anti-people concepts. A positive development, however, is that it is becoming more and more transparent."
Alexander Wagandt
Thomas Sowell | so many successful politicians are such shameless liars
in Thomas Sowell"The fact that so many successful politicians are such shameless liars is not only a reflection on them, it is also a reflection on us. When the people want the impossible, only liars can satisfy."
Thomas Sowell