#philosophy

As government expands, liberty contracts. ↗

— Ronald Reagan

#political-philosophy #politics #scope-of-government #liberty

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence – it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and fearful master. ↗

— George Washington

#liberty #political-philosophy #scope-of-government #liberty

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. ↗

— Robert A. Heinlein

#philosophy #politics #thermodynamics #free

Inevitably it follows that anyone with an independent mind must become 'one who resists or opposes an authority or established convention': a rebel. ...And if enough people come to agree with—and follow—the REBEL, we now have a DEVIL. Until, of course, still more people agree. And then, finally, we have ... GREATNESS. ↗

— Nicholas Tharcher

#independent-thought #metaphysics #philosophy #independence

If everyone is a product of this society, who will say the things that need to be said, and do the things that need to be done, without compromise? Truth will never start out popular in a world more concerned with marketability than righteousness. It will initially suffer ridicule and even violence- yet ultimately it is undeniable. All of humanity is living in a dream world, but suffering real consequences. ↗

— Lauryn Hill

#philosophy #truth #dreams

There is a common tendency to turn off one's imagination at certain points and refuse to contemplate the possibility of having to do certain things and cope with the attendant moral problems. The things simply get done by the social machine, and one can keep one's clear conscience and one's moral indignation unsullied. ↗

— John Fraser

#criticism #morality #philosophy #theory #art

Philosophy cannot be extinguished, though men will try ... The spirit seeks the light, that is its nature. It wishes to return to its origin, and must forever try to reach enlightenment. ↗

— Iain Pears

#human-spirit #philosophy #dreams

I hope it is not necessary for me to stress the platonic nature of our relationship- not platonic in the purest sense, there was no philosophical discourse, but we certainly didn't fuck, which is usually what people mean by platonic; which I bet would really piss Plato off, that for all his thinking and chatting his name has become an adjective for describing sexless trysts. ↗

— Russell Brand

#plato #platonic #russell-brand #nature

A day without laughter is a day wasted. ↗

— Nicolas Chamfort

#day

And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of us not simply victims, as nature and accident do, but active accomplices. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#philosophy #truth #nature