Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Two long quotes that might be worth reading

"It has been said that everyone has one secret. This is not true.

Everyone has many secrets, many faces, many masks. All humans...are the sum of their masks.

It is what you do in life, not what torments you in your soul that matters." 

"It is not what you feel that makes you evil. Feelings are natural...It is what you do with them that decides if you are a villain or a hero."  -John Ringo in There Will Be Dragons

"Utopia is the imaginary society in which humankind's deepest yearnings, noblest dreams and highest aspirations come to fulfillment, where all physical, social and spiritual forces work together, in harmony, to permit the attainment of everything people find necessary and desirable. In the imagined utopia, people work and live together closely and cooperatively, in a social order that is self-created and self-chosen rather than externally imposed, yet one that also operates according to a higher order of natural and spiritual laws. Utopia is held together by commitment rather than coercion, for in utopia what people want to do is the same thing as what they have to do; the interests of the individuals are congruent with the interests of the group; and personal growth and freedom entail responsibility for others. Underlying the vision of utopia is the assumption that harmony, cooperation and mutuality of interests are natural to human existence rather than conflict, competition and exploitation, which arise only in imperfect societies. By providing material and psychological safety and security, the utopian social order eliminates the need for divisive competition or self-serving actions which elevate some people to the disadvantage of others; it ensures instead the flowering of mutual responsibility and trust to the advantage of all."  -Rosabeth Moss Kanter in her book Commitment and Community which examined Utopian societies from the 1800s.

Growing up, most two-parent families with kids below age 12 came pretty close those the Utopian Ideals. 

 

1 comment:

  1. Good quotes, ERJ.

    At least for myself, that description of a family applied, and applied well into high school.

    ReplyDelete

Readers who are willing to comment make this a better blog. Civil dialog is a valuable thing.