"When American life is most American it is apt to be most theatrical."

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“Closed societies are now the flimsiest of illusions, for all the outsiders are demanding in.”

“And I knew that it was better to live out one's own absurdity than to die for that of others.”

“And the mind that has conceived a plan of living must never lose sight of the chaos against which that pattern was conceived. That goes for societies as well as for individuals.”

“Let's not play these kids cheap; let's find out what they have that is a strength. What do they have that you can approach and build a bridge upon? Education is all a matter of building bridges, it seems to me.”

“Articles on Ellison at The New York Times”

“The clock ticked with empty urgency, as though trying to catch up with the time. In the street a siren howled.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Thousands of alienated young Muslims, most of them born and bred here but who regard themselves as an army within, are waiting for an opportunity to help to destroy the society that sustains them."

— Melanie Phillips

Politics1951

#life

"The appreciation of a painting or a piece of music, for example, or even falling in love, is all about our subjectivity. But to decide that the entire universe operates in such a way, let alone to go …"

— Derren Brown

Psychology1971

#life

"Fear is illusory; it cannot live. Courage is eternal, it will not die. Perils, calamities, dangers are the certain lot of every man who is a denizen of this world. Therefore, O Man! Fortify your mind …"

— Swami Sivananda

Medicine1887–1963

#life

"Greatness loves itself, and all healthy instincts decline to flagellate themselves daily with the whip of altruism. What is great must will to do more than its mere duty ; it must give, make others ha…"

— Oscar Levy

Medicine1867–1946

#life