#icu

We need creativity in order to break free from the temporary structures that have been set up by a particular sequence of experience. ↗

— Edward de Bono

#break #creativity #experience #free #need

The construction of civilizational difference is not exclusive in any simple sense. The de-essentialization of Islam is paradigmatic for all thinking about the assimilation of non-European poeples to European civilization. The idea that people's historical experience is inessential to them, that it can be shed at will, makes it possible to argue more strongly for the Enlightenment's claim to universality: Muslims, as members of the abstract category "humans," can be assimilated or (as some recent theorist have put it) "translated" into a global ("European") civilization once they have divested themselves of what many of them regard (mistakenly) as essential to themselves. The belief that human beings can be separated from their histories and traditions makes it possible to urge a Europeanization of the Islamic world. And by the same logic, it underlies the belief that the assimilation to Europe's civilization of Muslim immigrants who are--for good or for ill--already in European states is necessary and desirable. ↗

— Talal Asad

#europe #european-civilization #islam #multiculturalism #pluralism

When it is understood that one loses joy and happiness in the attempt to possess them, the essence of natural farming will be realized. The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. ↗

— Masanobu Fukuoka

#farming #zen #nature

Obviously, losing a parent is very difficult. I miss my dad every day, but I know he would be proud to see me continuing to swim and going for another shot at the Olympics. ↗

— Eric Shanteau

#continuing #dad #day #difficult #every

It's a strange kind of irony. The things that affect us most are the things we can't remember" (from Swimming Upstream). ↗

— Ruth Mancini

#life-experiences #experience

Las Vegas se moque de tout. Chaque réalité, elle la tourne en dérision. Sans se soucier de l’histoire, elle broie tout évènement humain dans un chyme électrochimique et parodique qui le naisse absolument rien intact. Ce faisant, elle révèle la scène primitive de la société : l’impossibilité de croire en la vérité de l’autre. Elle fait d’autrui un parfait inconnu, puisque tout ce qui signale sa présence, la culture et la civilisation, est ici proprement ridiculisé. p12 ↗

— Bruce Bégout

#dérision #las-vegas #ridicule #experience

I think I was always interested in the larger world, even as a kid, and my experiences as a journalist only heightened that interest. Covering conflict, I learned that though leaders often try to create a sense of "us" and "them," the differences are not that delineated. I often felt like it was a whole bunch of "us," with some of "them" scattered around. That made me feel that the borders we draw around ourselves are often artificial. ↗

— Masha Hamilton

#multiculturalism #experience

You have very accurately described the difficulty of presenting my books on film: many of my characters are alone most of the time, and when they do talk, what they say is mostly lies. That can make for a pretty confusing film. ↗

— Thomas Perry

#alone #books #characters #confusing #described

The road to enlightenment is long and difficult, and you should try not to forget snacks and magazines. ↗

— Anne Lamott

#enlightenment #humor #inspirational #road #faith

That's the hardest thing of all--never to become cynical, never to lose faith, never to become indifferent. ↗

— Sergei Lukyanenko

#difficult #faith #hard #indifference #faith