#ali

Now, quite apart from the fact that, from the point of view of the Earther, socialism suffers the devastating liability of only exhibiting internal contradictions when you are trying to use it as an adjunct to your own stupidity (unlike capitalism, which again, from the point of view of the Earther, happily has them built in from the start), it is the case that because Free Enterprise got there first and set up the house rules, it will always stay at least one kick ahead of its rivals. ↗

— Iain M. Banks

#earthers #economics #free-enterprise #socialism #art

The Special Operations Network was instigated to handle policing duties considered either too unusual or too specialized to be tackled by the regular force. There were thirty departments in all, starting at the more mundane Neighborly Disputes (SO-30) and going onto Literary Detectives (SO-27) and Art Crime (SO-24). Anything below SO-20 was restricted information, although it was common knowledge that the ChronoGuard was SO-12 and Antiterrorism SO-9. It is rumored that SO-1 was the department that polices the SpecOps themselves. Quite what the others do is anyone's guess. What is known is that the individual operatives themselves are mostly ex-military or ex-police and slightly unbalanced. 'If you want to be a SpecOp,' the saying goes, 'act kinda weird... ↗

— Jasper Fforde

#art #crime #detectives #literary #military

La vie ressemble plus souvent à un roman qu'un roman ne ressemble à la vie." ("Life resembles a novel more often than novels resemble life.") ↗

— George Sand

#fiction #life #novels #realism #resemblance

Nothing is as empowering as real-world validation, even if it's for failure. ↗

— Steven Pressfield

#failure #validation #art

The part that needs healing is our personal life. Personal life has nothing to do with work. Besides, what better way of healing than to find our center of self-sovereignty? Isn't that the whole point of healing? ↗

— Steven Pressfield

#art

What art should do, I think, is advance the generation into the next era. It should be one step ahead of the ordinary, ahead of what is already known. Art is what pulls on the next age. I’m not saying that my art is that, but that it would be good if it could be. ↗

— Andy Couturier

#community #environmentalism #green #japan #sustainability

If Quality were dropped, only rationality would remain unchanged. ↗

— Robert M. Pirsig

#rationality #art

Poetry is more than a form of art. It's a vibration and a pulsing heart. Whether it's sour or whether it's sweet. It can give you strength no one can defeat ↗

— Stanley Victor Paskavich

#life-philosophy #poetry #prose #reality #writing

Und es gibt Menschen, die behaupten, Gott hätte das gesamte Universum erschaffen, um sich selbst sehen zu können. So wie wir immer unter Menschen gehen, weil wir uns über andere Menschen definieren. Weil wir nur durch die Art, wie sie sind, erkennen können, wie wir sind. ↗

— Benjamin Lebert

#self-realization #art

Everybody was talking about the religious man who committed suicide. While no one in the monastery approved of the man's action, some say they admired his faith. Faith?" said the Master. He had the courage of his convictions, didn't he?" That was fanaticism, not faith. Faith demands a greater courage still: to reexamine one's convictions and reject them if they do not fit the facts. ↗

— Anthony de Mello

#religion #spirituality #courage