#sm

Melancholy: an appetite no misery satisfies. ↗

— Emil Cioran

#melancholy #misery #syllogism #misery

I am often described to my irritation as a 'contrarian' and even had the title inflicted on me by the publisher of one of my early books. (At least on that occasion I lived up to the title by ridiculing the word in my introduction to the book's first chapter.) It is actually a pity that our culture doesn't have a good vernacular word for an oppositionist or even for someone who tries to do his own thinking: the word 'dissident' can't be self-conferred because it is really a title of honor that has to be won or earned, while terms like 'gadfly' or 'maverick' are somehow trivial and condescending as well as over-full of self-regard. And I've lost count of the number of memoirs by old comrades or ex-comrades that have titles like 'Against the Stream,' 'Against the Current,' 'Minority of One,' 'Breaking Ranks' and so forth—all of them lending point to Harold Rosenberg's withering remark about 'the herd of independent minds.' Even when I was quite young I disliked being called a 'rebel': it seemed to make the patronizing suggestion that 'questioning authority' was part of a 'phase' through which I would naturally go. On the contrary, I was a relatively well-behaved and well-mannered boy, and chose my battles with some deliberation rather than just thinking with my hormones. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#contrarianism #dissent #dissidents #free-thought #harold-rosenberg

If it turns out that there is a God...the worst that you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever. ↗

— Woody Allen

#metaphysics #philosophy #philosophy

Nationalism is an infantile thing. It is the measles of mankind. ↗

— Albert Einstein

#irresponsibility #nationalism #mankind

Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly. ↗

— Mahatma Gandhi

#complicity #dissent #protest #truth-telling #silence

Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist. ↗

— George Carlin

#disillusionment #idealism #disappointment

Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil. ↗

— Gore Vidal

#evil #greed #objectivism #greed

The Master said, “If your conduct is determined solely by considerations of profit you will arouse great resentment. ↗

— Confucius

#consumerism #greed #materialism #profit #greed

How is it possible to have a civil war? ↗

— George Carlin

#funny #humor #terminology #war #funny

Silverstream: You idiot!!! What are you doing in my territory??? Graystripe:...Drowning? Silverstream: Can't you do that in your own territory? Graystripe: Ah, but who would rescue me there? ↗

— Erin Hunter

#graystripe #sarcasm #silverstream #warriors #fire