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Quote by George Saunders

“Working with language is a means by which we can identify the bullshit within ourselves (and others). If we learn what a truthful sentence looks like, a little flag goes up at a false one.”

Quote by George Saunders

Work

The Braindead Megaphone

An examination of the influence of media on public opinion and the way information is consumed and disseminated in modern society more

Author

George Saunders
George Saunders

George Saunders, born on December 2, 1958, is an American writer known for his unique humor and profound insights. His works, primarily short stories, have gained widespread recognition and have been honored with numerous literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. more

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“Life is about living, and for that, we need to be here, now—100% in it—not immersed in anxiety, negative self-talk, fantasy, or lost in endless thought. Life happens here, not there. When we are here, now, we become connected. Embodied in the fullness of our beings, we create space, let go of what does not matter, and get clarity and alignment. We do less multitasking, more discernment—less busyness, more presence. Here, now, we feel what we feel, cut the bullshit, deal with whatever arises, and live.”

“But I realized something. About art. And psychiatry. They're both self-perpetuating systems. Like religion. All three of them promise you a sense of inner worth and meaning, and spend a lot of time telling you about the suffering you have to go through to achieve it. As soon as you get a problem in any one of them, the solution it gives is always to go deeper into the same system. They're all in rather uneasy truce with one another in what's actually a mortal battle. Like all self-reinforcing systems. At best, each is trying to encompass the other two and define them as sub-groups. You know: religion and art are both forms of madness and madness is the realm of psychiatry. Or, art is the study and praise of man and man's ideals, so therefore a religious experience just becomes a brutalized aesthetic response and psychiatry is just another tool for the artist to observe man and render his portraits more accurately. And the religious attitude I guess is that the other two are only useful as long as they promote the good life. At worst, they all try to destroy one another. Which is what my psychiatrist, whether he knew it or not, was trying, quite effectively, to do to my painting. I gave up psychiatry too, pretty soon. I just didn't want to get all wound up in any systems at all.”