#sorrows

But after living in Communist China for the past seventeen years, I knew that such a society was only a dream because those who seized power would invariably become the new ruling class. They would have the power to control the people’s lives and bend the people’s will. Because they controlled the production and distribution of goods and services in the name of the state, they would also enjoy material luxuries beyond the reach of the common people. In Communist China, details of the private lives of the leaders were guarded as state secrets. But every Chinese knew that the Party leaders lived in spacious mansions with many servants, obtained their provisions from special shops where luxury goods were made available to their household at nominal prices, and send their children in chauffeur-driven cars to exclusive schools to be taught by specially selected teachers. Even though every Chinese knew how these leaders lived, no one dared to talk about it. If we had to pass by a special shop for the military or high officials, we carefully looked the other way to avoid giving the impression we knew it was there. Pg. 90 ↗

— Nien Cheng

#communist-china #corruption #cultural-revolution #maoism #death

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad. ↗

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

#cold #every #every man #his #knows

There are few sorrows, however poignant, in which a good income is of no avail. ↗

— Logan P. Smith

#few #good #however #income #poignant

My parents wanted me to solace them for sorrows they denied having had. ↗

— Mason Cooley

#had #having #me #parents #solace

When sorrows come, they come not single spies. But in battalions! ↗