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Quote by Victoria Zak

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Beautiful Darkness: Masie

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Victoria Zak

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“When ovation drowns. When the klieg lights fade. When the drum beats stop. The real you stares you in the face as you dialogue with your soul. In this moment of solitude, you are forced to ask yourself, “who was that guy that just drew a huge applause, that kept the television cameras rolling and that sent the drummers into a frenzy?” If that guy is a stranger to you, then you know you have the arduous task of reconciling the real and the imaginary you, or forever forego your happiness.”

“If, then, to meanest mariners, and renegades and castaways, I shall hereafter ascribe high qualities, though dark; weave round them tragic graces; if even the most mournful, perchance the most abased, among them all, shall at times lift himself to the exalted mounts; if I shall touch that workman’s arm with some ethereal light; if I shall spread a rainbow over his disastrous set of sun; then against all mortal critics bear me out in it, thou just Spirit of Equality, which has spread one royal mantle of humanity over all my kind! Bear me out in it, thou great democratic God! who didst not refuse to the swart convict, Bunyan, the pale, poetic pearl; Thou who didst clothe with the doubly hammered leaves of finest gold, the stumped and paupered arm of old Cervantes; Thou who didst pick up Andrew Jackson from the pebbles; who didst hurl him upon a war-horse; who didst thunder him higher than a throne! Thou who, in all Thy mighty, earthly marchings, ever cullest Thy selectest champions from the kingly commons; bear me out in it, O God!”

“In the world as it is, man moves primarily because of self-interest. In the world as it is, the right things are usually done for the wrong reasons, and vice versa. In the world as it is, constructive actions have been reactions to a threat. In the world as it is, a value judgment is rarely, if ever, made on the basis of what is best. Life does not accord us this luxury. Decisions are made on the criteria of alternatives. In the world as it is, "compromise" is not an ugly but a noble word. If the whole free way of life could be summed up in one word it would be "compromise." A free way of life is a constant conflict punctuated by compromises which then serve as a jumping-off point for further conflict, more compromises, more conflict, in the never-ending struggle toward achieving man's highest goals.”