#h

All Kellhus could see of his father were two fingers and a thumb lying slack upon a bare thigh. The thumbnail gleamed. “As Dûnyain,” the disembodied voice continued, “you had no choice. To command yourself, you had to master circumstance. And to master circumstance, you had to bind the actions of the worldborn to your will. You had to make limbs of nations. So you made their beliefs the object of your relentless scrutiny. It was axiomatic. “You realized those truths that cut against the interests of the powerful were called lies, and that those lies that served those interests were called truths. And you understood that it had to be this way, since it is the function of belief, not the veracity, that preserved nations. Why call an emperor’s blood divine? Why tell slaves that suffering is grace? It is what beliefs do, the actions they license and prohibit, that is important. If men believed all blood was equal, the caste-nobility would be overthrown. If men believed all coin was oppression, the caste-merchants would be turned out. “Nations tolerate only those beliefs that conserve the great system of interlocking actions that makes them possible. For the worldborn, you realized, truth is largely irrelevant. Why else would they all dwell in delusion? “Your first decision was elementary. You claimed to be a member of the caste-nobility, a prince, knowing that, once you convinced some, you could demand that all act accordingly. And through this simple deception, you secured your independence. No other would command you, because they believed they had no right to command you. “But how might you convince them of your right? One lie had made you their equal; what further lie might make you their master? ↗

— R. Scott Bakker

#equality

One of the achievements of which I am most proud was the codification, the writing into U.S. law, of the U.S. embargo on the Castro dictatorship. ↗

— Lincoln Diaz-Balart

#am #castro #dictatorship #embargo #i

I soothe my conscience now with the thought that it is better for hard words to be on paper than that Mummy should carry them in her heart. ↗

— Anne Frank

#carry #conscience #hard #hard words #heart

For many of those who had historically supported welfare programs in the broadest sense, it was perfectly reasonable to enact legislation in which poor people were the objects of efforts to assist them. ↗

— Barney Frank

#broadest #broadest sense #efforts #enact #had

Most people who are activists and are concerned about issues get their information from sources which reinforce their opinions and give them the facts that they want to hear. ↗

— Barney Frank

#activists #concerned #facts #get #give

Chris Cutler was kind enough to offer his company as an umbrella, so now I can have all my back catalogue under one roof as it were, and it has the same feeling as with Daniel; this is a matter between friends rather than businessmen. ↗

— Fred Frith

#between #businessmen #catalogue #chris #company

I worked as a lawyer; as a member of the teaching staff of a technical college; and then I worked principally as legal adviser to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Party. ↗

— Hans Frank

#adviser #college #german #hitler #i

In 1930 I became a member of the Reichstag. ↗

— Hans Frank

#i #member #reichstag

In my own sphere I did everything that could possibly be expected of a man who believes in the greatness of his people and who is filled with fanaticism for the greatness of his country, in order to bring about the victory of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist movement. ↗

— Hans Frank

#adolf #believes #bring #could #country

On 24 August 1939, as an officer in the reserve, I had to join my regiment in Potsdam. ↗

— Hans Frank

#had #i #join #officer #potsdam