"Bland is the truest expression of an advanced civilization. It took a great deal of money to create this pocket of cool, calm bland among the rickshaw men and the beggar children tapping on the car windows."

John Twelve Hawks Literature See all quotes by John Twelve Hawks →

React to this quote

More by John Twelve Hawks

“Her face kept changing and that bothered me as well. Why were human beings so unstable? The door and the curtains and the supply cabinet didn't continually change their appearance.'”

“Political affiliation is not a relevant part of this decision; privacy and personal freedom should be fundamental right for everyone.”

“All of us fight a battle every day, but we just don’t know it. Love tries to defeat hatred. Bravery destroys fear.”

“Most conscious thought is simply an attempt to claim ‘authorship’ for a choice that has already been made. Our thoughts are just an ongoing attempt to explain what we’ve already decided.”

“No machine can daydream. When they’re not switched on, they’re as cold as a toaster in a midnight kitchen.”

“True freedom is tolerant. It gives people the right to live and think in new ways.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Egypt is the mother of the world and will be as great as the world."

— Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

Politics1954

#family

"My parents absolutely did not think of themselves as part of the Great Migration. They knew they were part of a great wave. No one really talked about it in those terms or gave it a name. I grew up su…"

— Isabel Wilkerson

Journalism1961

#friendship

"I think, therefore, that we ought to take great numbers of hoplites, both from Athens and from our allies, and not merely from our subjects, but also any we may be able to get for love or money in the…"

— Thucydides

Literature-500–-420

#love

"the definition of international system... There is some "form of control" that regulates behavior and may range from informal rules of the system to formal institutions. ...A view prevalent among many…"

— Robert Gilpin

Science1930–2018

#science