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Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

Book by Abhijit Naskar · 12 quotes · Civic Duty, Political Science, Social Studies

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Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence Quotes

“Civil Liberty (The Sonnet) Policy is not the precursor to civil liberty, Civic duty is the precursor to civil liberty. If there is no civic duty, there is no civil liberty, If there is no civic duty, civilians are but catastrophe. Contrary to unwritten political law of abuse, Civilians are not the doormats of democracy. Civilians are the doors, civilians are the buildings, Civilians are the whole of the social anatomy. Problem is, it's more convenient to live life as doormat, Than take responsibility and turn politicians obsolete. The war-mongers know this uncivilized tenet of the apes, Hence they can turn living beings into moronic nationalist. So I repeat, civic duty is the alpha and omega of civil liberty. Till we realize this, there is no peace, justice and equality.”

“Uncomfortable Illumination (The Sonnet) Barbarism, thy name is Britain. Racism, thy name is America. Regress, thy name is Turkey. Intolerance, thy name is India. Superstition, thy name is East Europe. Megalomania, thy name is Russia. Snobbery, thy name is West Europe. Shallowness, thy name is South Korea. Only "humans" living in these lands, Will realize the truth in these words. Whereas the practitioners of prejudice, Will blow steam out of their ears. Ignorance, thy name is Sapiens. Illumination begins with illness acknowledgment.”

“Esperanza Impossible Sonnet 10 Nationality is not the trouble, real trouble is nationalism, And nationalism is the super weapon in a politician's arsenal. When nothing works, peddling nationalism works every time, For insecure citizenry can't tell nationality from nationalism. So in practice, all the wars of the world are caused by citizens, But it feels good to blame the bad things on politicians. Once the citizens grow up to not be swayed by nationalism, No authoritarian nincompoop can make them dance. Nationality is a tool, what it is not is a badge of supremacy, Just like culture is a tool, and not a badge of authority. If we must dance, let us dance to life, not to baseless fright, If we must take a step, let's take a step towards humanity. Borders exist to aid the functioning of the fabric of society. They are not some olympian designation of your identity.”

“Systemic change is a slow and tedious process, It doesn't happen overnight by vandalizing society. If vandalism and activism were one and the same, Our jungly ancestors would've been the ideal humanity.”

“Contrary to popular belief, politics is not the problem, the real bane of a democratic society is partisanism. Because politics involves interest of the people, whereas partisanism involves interest of the politicians.”

“Sonnet of Norms It is not patriarchal to hold the door for a lady, It is not cowardly to leave your seat to the elderly. But it is barbaric to harass a breastfeeding mother, And prehistoric to force a woman carry a pregnancy. There are norms that nourish the societal fabric, Then there are norms out of touch with age and times. Beyond both freedom and obedience as a whole being, You ought to realize where and how to draw the lines. The problem is that most do not know when to rebel, They rebel out of boredom to seek adventure not justice. They commit reckless vandalism in the name of activism, And feel proud while committing the most heinous deeds. Norms require careful scrutiny, not headless rebellion. Hence, quite often rebels become the new face of oppression.”