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Quote by Alan Watts

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Alan Watts
Alan Watts

Alan Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker known for his exploration of the relationship between Eastern and Western thought, particularly focusing on Zen Buddhism and its influence on Western culture. His work has influenced many in the areas of spirituality, psychology, and the philosophy of science. more

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“Every time I hear a political speech or I read those of our leaders, I am horrified at having, for years, heard nothing which sounded human. It is always the same words telling the same lies. And the fact that men accept this, that the people’s anger has not destroyed these hollow clowns, strikes me as proof that men attribute no importance to the way they are governed; that they gamble – yes, gamble – with a whole part of their life and their so called 'vital interests.”

PeopleMenWayYearsHumansWholeFactsPoliticalLyingInterestLeaderAcceptingHeardSpeechImportanceStrikesProofDestroyedAttributesClownHollowGamblePolitical Speeches
Book:Notebooks, 1935-1942
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“Philosophy is a necessary activity because we, all of us, take a great number of things for granted, and many of these assumptions are of a philosophical character; we act on them in private life, in politics, in our work, and in every other sphere of our lives -- but while some of these assumptions are no doubt true, it is likely, that more are false and some are harmful. So the critical examination of our presuppositions -- which is a philosophical activity -- is morally as well as intellectually important.”

WellsImportantPhilosophyCharacterNumbersDoubtOur LivesActivityPhilosophicalCriticalGrantedAssumptionNo DoubtSpheresPrivate LifeExamination
Author:Karl Popper
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“I do think that women could make politics irrelevant; by a kind of spontaneous cooperative action the like of which we have never seen; which is so far from people’s ideas of state structure or viable social structure that it seems to them like total anarchy — when what it really is, is very subtle forms of interrelation that do not follow some heirarchal pattern which is fundamentally patriarchal. The opposite to patriarchy is not matriarchy but fraternity, yet I think it’s women who are going to have to break this spiral of power and find the trick of cooperation.”

PeopleThinkingKindIdeasStatesSeemsActionFormSocialBreakOppositesStructurePatternsTricksSubtleCooperationAnarchySpontaneousPatriarchyIrrelevantSpiralsFraternityCooperativesSocial StructureMatriarchy
Author:Germaine Greer
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