#lisa

The twins were too young to know that these were only history’s henchmen. Sent to square the books and collect the dues from those who broke its laws. Impelled by feelings that were primal yet paradoxically wholly impersonal. Feelings of contempt born of inchoate, unacknowledged fear—civilization’s fear of nature, men’s fear of women, power’s fear of powerlessness. Man’s subliminal urge to destroy what he could neither subdue nor deify. ↗

— Arundhati Roy

#history #human-nature #psychology #men

Armageddon was yesterday, today we have a serious problem. ↗

— Stieg Larsson

#larsson #lisabeth #millenium #problems

They (mothers-in-law) never leave when they say they will. When my mother-in-law visits, the mice throw themselves at the cat, begging to be eaten. ↗

— Lisa Kleypas

#historical-romance #lisa-kleypas #historical

Most civilisation is based on cowardice. It's so easy to civilize by teaching cowardice. You water down the standards which would lead to bravery. You restrain the will. You regulate the appetites. You fence in the horizons. You make a law for every movement. You deny the existence of chaos. You teach even the children to breathe slowly. You tame. ↗

— Frank Herbert

#civilisation #cowardice #law #cowardice

If you're against globalisation, it doesn't achieve much by sort of bombing the head offices of Shell or Nestle. You unsettle people much more by blowing up an Oxfam shop because people can't understand the motive. ↗

— J. G. Ballard

#against #because #blowing #bombing #globalisation

Whether you like it or not, you're forced to come to the realisation that death is out there. But I don't fear death, I'm a fatalist. I believe when it's your time, that's it. It's the hand you're dealt. ↗

— Clint Eastwood

#come #dealt #death #fear #forced

Diaspora starts about a thousand years from now. Most of human civilisation has moved inside computers; essentially, a major branch of our descendants consists of conscious software. ↗

— Greg Egan

#branch #civilisation #computers #conscious #consists

The 'anti-globalisation movement' is the most significant proponent of globalisation - but in the interests of people, not concentrations of state-private power. ↗

— Noam Chomsky

#globalisation #interests #most #movement #people

Zen, per se, is not just an art, it's not just a religion, it's a realisation. ↗

— Gene Clark

#just #per #realisation #religion #zen

The world is not going into concentric blocs of power. It is actually going into a diffusion of power with more centres of decision-making than ever in human civilisation. That requires you to place yourself in far more hubs of power than ever before. ↗

— William Hague

#before #blocs #centres #civilisation #decision-making