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Quote by William Godwin

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The Adventures of Caleb Williams: Or, Things as They Are

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Author

William Godwin
William Godwin

William Godwin was an English journalist, writer, and philosopher known for his contributions to liberal and socialist ideas. He is particularly famous for his work 'Enquiry Concerning Political Justice', which outlined theories on freedom, equality, and property. Born on March 3, 1756, he passed away on April 7, 1836. more

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“In order to manipulate humans, there is no need to physically hook brains to computers. For thousands of years prophets, poets, and politicians have used language to manipulate and reshape society. Now computers are learning how to do it. And they won’t need to send killer robots to shoot us. They could manipulate human beings to pull the trigger.”

“A man who has not known meditation lives in the dark night of the soul. He has not experienced the inner light. And if you are full of darkness inside your life is bound to remain miserable, because your actions will come out of your darkness. Your actions are bound to be wrong. Your life will be that of stumbling from one error to another error. People carry mountains of misery, because they have not tried to bring any light into their inner source. And it is easy to do that, but people have just never been told to go into themselves. The society, the establishment and the vested interests are against it, because they don't want people who are full of inner light. The politicians, the people in power and the rich are all against it, because a man who has his own inner light cannot be manipulated, controlled and exploited. He will always do the right things. He has his own intelligence, and he is ready to live according to his own inner light. Even a single moment of freedom is more valuable than to sacrifice his whole life, because in that single moment he comes to know God.”

“Спектакль досконало опанував цю техніку: спершу суспільство втрачає будь-яке уявлення про теперішнє, а згодом забувається все, що хоч якось, нехай і неповно, було осмислено про минуле.”

“All grandeur, all power, all subordination to authority rests on the executioner: he is the horror and the bond of human association. Remove this incomprehensible agent from the world and at that very moment order gives way to chaos, thrones topple and society disappears.”

“У цьому сенсі сучасний тоталітаризм можна визначити як режим узаконеної громадянської війни, запроваджений через надзвичайний стан і такий, що зробив можливим фізичне знищення не лише політичних опонентів, а й цілих категорій громадян, яких з тих чи інших причин вважали неможливим інтегрувати у політичну систему. Відтоді свідоме використання вічного надзвичайного стану (навіть якщо його й не було проголошено офіційно) стало однією з головних практик сучасних держав, зокрема й так званих демократій.”