#soc

China and the U.S. are two societies with very different attitudes towards opinion and criticism. In China, I am constantly under surveillance. Even my slightest, most innocuous move can - and often is - censored by Chinese authorities. ↗

— Ai Weiwei

#attitudes #authorities #censored #china #chinese

Police in China can do whatever they want; after 81 days in arbitrary detention you clearly realise that they don't have to obey their own laws. In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time they want - not only you, your whole family and all people like you. ↗

— Ai Weiwei

#any #arbitrary #china #clearly #crush

This is the great object held out by this association; and the means of attaining it is illumination, enlightening the understanding by the sun of reason which will dispell the clouds of superstition and of prejudice. ↗

— Adam Weishaupt

#attaining #clouds #enlightening #great #held

The New Deal is plainly an attempt to achieve a working socialism and avert a social collapse in America; it is extraordinarily parallel to the successive 'policies' and 'Plans' of the Russian experiment. Americans shirk the word 'socialism', but what else can one call it? ↗

— H. G. Wells

#america #attempt #avert #call #collapse

Honey, have you ever seen a man knitting socks? ↗

— Ezer Weizman

#honey #knitting #man #seen #socks

The first task in teaching is to bring to consciousness what the students already believe by virtue of their personal experiences about themselves and society. ↗

— Paul Wellstone

#already #believe #bring #consciousness #experiences

When I'm not writing, I read loads of fiction, but I've been writing quite constantly lately so I've been reading a lot of nonfiction - philosophy, religion, science, history, social or cultural studies. ↗

— Irvine Welsh

#constantly #cultural #fiction #history #i

One other fact is significant: the domestic feasts and sacrifices of single families, which in David's time must still have been general, gradually declined and lost their importance as social circles widened and life became more public. ↗

— Julius Wellhausen

#been #circles #david #declined #domestic

I loved it, but social reality impeded. Now I wander in here at 9 in the morning or so, and come back for a while in the afternoon. I am a very lenient boss. ↗

— Donald E. Westlake

#am #back #boss #come #here

There's all this stuff that is happening in Edinburgh now, it's a sad attempt to create an Edinburgh society, similar to a London society, a highbrow literature celebrity society. ↗

— Irvine Welsh

#celebrity #create #edinburgh #happening #highbrow