#greed

Thus did a handful of rapacious citizens come to control all that was worth controlling in America. Thus was the savage and stupid and entirely inappropriate and unnecessary and humorless American class system created. Honest, industrious, peaceful citizens were classed as bloodsuckers, if they asked to be paid a living wage. And they saw that praise was reserved henceforth for those who devised means of getting paid enormously for committing crimes against which no laws had been passed. Thus the American dream turned belly up, turned green, bobbed to the scummy surface of cupidity unlimited, filled with gas, went bang in the noonday sun. ↗

— Kurt Vonnegut

#class #failed-systems #greed #dreams

The history of the twentieth century was dominated by the struggle against totalitarian systems of state power. The twenty-first will no doubt be marked by a struggle to curtail excessive corporate power. ↗

— Eric Schlosser

#food

Imperfection is the doorway for which perfection may step through...perfection must be enforced, it must be soldered into the eyes of the blind, it must be severed methodically and sewn into the very warmth that keeps at bay the cold of the night. Imperfection is the fire that sets alight the dark passage through which perfection wanders...and we must embrace it all, we must have purpose to survive. ↗

— Dave Matthes

#death #dread #forgiveness #goal #greed

In my world, people are always plotting. You have no idea of all the crimes people in business commit every day. Like it was nothing. Or there’s a set of special rules for them. Remember when Bush made that whole speech about ‘corporate ethics’ last year? What a fraud. You think stuff like Enron or WorldCom is an aberration? It’s only the tip. Business is a religion. Probably the only one practiced all over the world. ↗

— Andrew Vachss

#business #corporate-greed #crime #enron #worldcom

Jatred’s white teeth flashed in an inviting smirk. To irritate the men even more, he motioned to them with his hand, ending the movement with a flip of his middle finger. “Come and get it, grandpas,” he hissed. ↗

— Angela Orlowski-Peart

#men

History is a set of lies agreed upon. ↗

— Napoleon Bonaparte

#history #lies #set #upon

Our labour preserves us from three great evils -- weariness, vice, and want. ↗

— Voltaire

#evil #greed #labor #need #vice

But it's such a waste... You came to a place so near the sky but still can't see the stars. ↗

— Detective Conan

#desperation #greed #hopelessly-going-after-something #greed

Her lips twitched when she quietly read. But if you fall I will be there To pick the pieces of your shattered soul “Shattered,” she murmured to herself. “Shattered soul? Isn’t that too serious? No, I think he will get it.” She continued to write. And put them back together I will solder them into a whole With the heat of my love I will stay. I will hold the time still. ↗

— Angela Orlowski-Peart

#love

His strength for your weakness! His wisdom for your folly! His drive for your drift! His grace for your greed! His love for your lust! His peace for your problems! His joy for your sorrow! His plenty for your poverty! ↗

— Major Thomas

#drive #folly #grace #greed #joy