Quotessence
Home / Authors / Chris Hedges
Chris Hedges

Chris Hedges Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllWarStatesCorporateHumansPeopleWorldCorporationsKindSelfThinkingDemocracyPurposeCultureDoeMoralRealityWantDestructionGivingHas Beens

Famous Chris Hedges Quotes

“I think most generations tend to learn the lesson of war the hard way. There is a deep attraction to the empowerment. Freud is right: societies either become locked in a collective embrace of Eros, as individuals do, or a collective embrace of Thanatos, the death instinct. They swing between the two. The notion that societies are naturally prone toward self-preservation is wrong. Self-annihilation can be deeply addictive, intoxicating, enticing. So I take a darker view of human nature, that war is probably always going to be with us. I think history bears me out.”

ThinkingWayHumansTwoWarSelfHardIndividualViewsGenerationsHuman NatureBearsLessonsEmpowermentEmbraceInstinctNotionAttractionCollectivesSwingsLockedPreservationAnnihilationSelf PreservationErosHard WayEnticingThanatos
Author:Chris Hedges
Create image

“We've bought into the idea that education is about training and "success," defined monetarily, rather than learning to think critically and challenge. We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers. A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, which fails to understand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speed or ability to consume, condemns itself to death.”

ThinkingShouldMindDoeIdeasPurposeCultureChallengesAbilityForgetMistakeEducationCompassionCareersFailingMoralityCivilizationTrainingManagementSpeedTechniqueDefinedPurpose Of EducationTrue Purpose
Author:Chris Hedges
Create image

“As long as we think abstractly, as long as we find in patriotism and the exuberance of War our fulfillment, we will never understand those who do battle against us, or how we are perceived by them, or finally those who do battle for us and how we should respond to it all. We will never discover who we are. We will fail to confront the capacity we all have for violence.”

ThinkingShouldLongWarViolenceFailingBattleCapacityFulfillmentWho We AreExuberance
Book:War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
Create image