“I use the phrase 'sibling society' to suggest a culture fundamentally without fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, or ancestors. The thinking is horizontal.” ThinkingUseMotherCultureFatherPhrasesGrandmotherAncestorGrandfatherSiblingHorizontalFather Mother Author:Robert Bly
“All of those on the left, as I am, have always vastly preferred the democratic society over the hierarchical society and still do, but the democratic culture doesn't exist without highly informed citizens capable of thinking well, and if you have schools in which 40 percent of the people coming out of them cannot make change for a dollar, you don't have a democracy. You have a sibling society.” PeopleIfsThinkingWellsStillsSchoolCultureLeftDemocracyCitizensCapablePercentDollarsDemocraticComing OutSiblingDemocratic SocietyInformed Citizens Author:Robert Bly
“I think more and more people are recognizing how much adults and elders are actually needed. That's a gift of the sibling society.” PeopleThinkingNeededAdultsRecognizingEldersSibling Author:Robert Bly
“I think that poetry is important when you are shipwrecked, when the ordinary structures that hold you up are gone.” ThinkingImportantGoneOrdinaryStructurePoetry Is Author:Robert Bly
“Myth and poetry represent a reservoir of vertical thinking, which we could also call longing and gratitude to ancestors. We need that gratitude desperately.” ThinkingNeedsGratitudeLongingMythAncestorReservoirsVertical Author:Robert Bly
“If you want to know what it will be like when we are more deeply into the horizontal, simply go to one of the Indian casinos. The Native Americans, who stand for vertical thinking more than anyone else in our culture, have been setting up totally flat casinos for honkies.” IfsThinkingKnowsWantHas BeensCultureSettingSettingsIndianNativeFlatsNative AmericanCasinosVerticalHorizontal Author:Robert Bly
“Transcendence or detachment, leaving the body, pure love, lack of jealousy-that's the vision we are given in our culture, generally, when we think of the highest thing. . . . Another way to look at it is that the aim of the person is not to be detached, but to be more attached-to be attached to working; to be attached to making chairs or something that helps everyone; to be attached to beauty; to be attached to music.” ThinkingWayLooksPersonsHelpingBodyCultureGivenVisionPureHighestCommitmentAimLeavingChairsAnother WayTranscendenceDetachmentDetachedPure Love Author:Robert Bly
