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Quote by Jeanette Winterson

“I asked my mother why we couldn’t have books and she said, ‘The trouble with a book is that you never know what’s in it until it’s too late.' I thought to myself, 'Too late for what?”

Book:Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

Work

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

This memoir delves into the author's experiences with her family, particularly her mother, and the impact these relationships had on her own sense of self and happiness. more

Author

Jeanette Winterson

Jeanette Winterson is a renowned British author known for her distinctive literary style and profound social commentary. Her works span a wide range of themes, including novels, essays, and poetry. Winterson's novel 'Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit' is a story about growth, faith, and sexuality that has received widespread acclaim. more

“The matter of sedition is of two kinds: much poverty and much discontentment....The causes and motives of sedition are, innovation in religion; taxes; alteration of laws and customs; breaking of privileges; general oppression; advancement of unworthy persons, strangers; dearths; disbanded soldiers; factions grown desperate; and whatsoever in offending people joineth them in a common cause.' The cue of every leader, of course, is to divide his enemies and to unite his friends. 'Generally, the dividing and breaking of all factions...that are adverse to the state, and setting them at a distance, or at least distrust, among themselves, is not one of the worst remedies; for it is a desperate case, if those that hold with the proceeding of the state be full of discord and faction, and those that are against it be entire and united.' A better recipe for the avoidance of revolutions is an equitable distribution of wealth: 'Money is like muck, not good unless it be spread.' But this does not mean socialism, or even democracy; Bacon distrusts the people, who were in his day quite without access to education; 'the lowest of all flatteries is the flattery of the common people;' and 'Phocion took it right, who, being applauded by the multitude, asked, What had he done amiss?' What Bacon wants is first a yeomanry of owning farmers; then an aristocracy for administration; and above all a philosopher-king. 'It is almost without instance that any government was unprosperous under learned governors.' He mentions Seneca, Antonius Pius and Aurelius; it was his hope that to their names posterity would add his own.”

Philosophy Government Politics Revolution Discontent Francis Bacon Sedition Philosopher King

Book:The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers

Source: The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers

“After another deadly weekend, mass shootings across the country, we know--oh, how we know--how high the stakes, how polarized the public: the desperation for liberty, equality, and justice and the rage and backlash against it.”

Justice Liberty Equality Rage Gun Control Carpe Diem Polarization Seize The Opportunity Mass Shootings

Author:Shellen Lubin

“The state has grown used to treating its taxpayers as a farmer treats his cows, keeping them in a field to be milked. Soon, the cows will have wings.”

Quote Of The Day William Rees Mogg James Dale Davidson The Sovereign Individual

Book:The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age

Source: The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age

“It all starts with a tiny, stupid idea, then one thing leads to another, and suddenly, you find something amazing: yourself.”