#tis

The right-wing Tories and the conservative Whigs fought Napoleon as the Usurper and the Enemy of the Established Order; the liberal Tories and the radical Whigs fought him as the Betrayer of the Revolution and the Enslaver of Europe; they were all agreed in fighting him, and his notion that their disagreement signified national disunion was mere wishful thinking. All dictators since his time have fallen into the same trap: themselves blind to the values of liberty, they cannot conceive that people who disagree on its meaning can nevertheless unite in upholding their freedoms against patent despotism. ↗

— J. Christopher Herold

#liberty #napoleon #napoleonic-wars #tories #whigs

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. ↗

— George Washington

#history #patriotism #political-parties #political-philosophy #politics

Everyone knows history is written by the winners, but that cliche misses a crucial detail: Over time, the winners are always the progressives. Conservatism can only win in the short term, because society cannot stop evolving (and social evolution inevitably dovetails with the agenda of those who see change as an abstract positive). It might take seventy years, but it always happens eventually. Serious historians are, almost without exception, self-styled progressives. Radical views--even the awful ones--improve with age. ↗

— Chuck Klosterman

#conservatives #evolution #historians #history #progressive

An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have. ↗

— Andy Warhol

#artist #need #people #produces #somebody

Artists exist to show us the world. So do windows.
 ↗

— Jarod Kintz

#artists #humor #illuminate #inform #show

Be first, different & daring ↗

— James D. Roumeliotis

#james-roumeliotis #business

You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there. ↗

— Maria Callas

#artist #born #dear #even #fireworks

Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction." ― Pablo Picasso ↗

— Pablo Picasso

#artist #creativity-work #art

...it’s just another one of those things I don’t understand: everyone impresses upon you how unique you are, encouraging you to cultivate your individuality while at the same time trying to squish you and everyone else into the same ridiculous mould. It’s an artist’s right to rebel against the world’s stupidity. ↗

— E.A. Bucchianeri

#artists #be-yourself #creative-process #encouragement #funny

I spoke fire, laughed smoke, and madness spilled forth from my inspiration. ↗

— Arthur Holitscher

#artists #creativity #surrealism #writers #writing