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Quote by J. Rose Black

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Chasing Headlines

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J. Rose Black

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“I think about all the things money can and cannot buy. A spot at SCC, but not a moral compass. Health care and rehab, but not immunity from our worst impulses. Fluency in Mandarin, but not the ability to talk honestly. Privilege and large heaping chunks of the world, but not confidence. Or self-reflection. And certainly not courage. No, money doesn’t buy courage. In fact, if I’ve learned anything since the scandal, it’s that the opposite is true. Money makes you weak because it tricks you into thinking you’re strong.”

“Comedy is a lie, too, of course. It’s a defense, an aggression. It is a thing created to separate, to say, “I am not like this.” It is Godlike in its judgment and, by definition, the antithesis of empathy. Comedy sits on its throne and states: You are ridiculous. You are pathetic. You are stupid. Your pain amuses me. Most important, I am not you. Even comedy directed at the self, the stand-ups, the Woody Allens of the world, is performed as an act of defense: I am in on the joke that is me, therefore the joke is not me.”