#humanism

Though he never actually joined it, he was close to some civilian elements of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which was the most Communist (and in the rather orthodox sense) of the Palestinian formations. I remember Edward once surprising me by saying, and apropos of nothing: 'Do you know something I have never done in my political career? I have never publicly criticized the Soviet Union. It’s not that I terribly sympathize with them or anything—it's just that the Soviets have never done anything to harm me, or us.' At the time I thought this a rather naïve statement, even perhaps a slightly contemptible one, but by then I had been in parts of the Middle East where it could come as a blessed relief to meet a consecrated Moscow-line atheist-dogmatist, if only for the comparatively rational humanism that he evinced amid so much religious barking and mania. It was only later to occur to me that Edward's pronounced dislike of George Orwell was something to which I ought to have paid more attention. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#communism #dflp #dogmatism #edward-said #humanism

Life has no meaning a priori… It is up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing but the meaning that you choose. ↗

— Jean-Paul Sartre

#post-modernism #life

Faith in God means believing absolutely in something with no proof whatsoever. Faith in humanity means believing absolutely in something with a huge amount of proof to the contrary. We are the true believers. ↗

— Joss Whedon

#faith

I'm not in search of sanctity, sacredness, purity; these things are found after this life, not in this life; but in this life I search to be completely human: to feel, to give, to take, to laugh, to get lost, to be found, to dance, to love and to lust, to be so human. ↗

— C. JoyBell C.

#feeling #human #human-nature #humanism #humanity

Loss of social standing is an ever-present threat for individuals whose social acceptance is based on behavioral traits rather than unconditional human value. ↗

— Melissa V. Harris-Perry

#forgiveness #humanism #shame #forgiveness

Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you fight for and then you protect. ↗

— Wangari Maathai

#inspirational #inspirational

Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust. ↗

— Bell Hooks

#love #self-knowledge #love

I place a higher value on human life than on no human life. But only barely.
 ↗

— Jarod Kintz

#humanism #humanistic #humor #life #relationships

The problem I want to talk to you about tonight is the problem of belief. What does it mean to believe? We use this word all the time, and I think behind it lurk some really extraordinary taboos and confusions. What I want to argue tonight is that how we talk about belief- how we fail to criticize or criticize the beliefs of others, has more importance to us personally, more consequence to us personally and to civilization than perhaps anything else that is in our power to influence. ↗

— Sam Harris

#atheism #belief #ethics #humanism #religion

A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking. ↗

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

#politics #religion #religion