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Quote by Fuchsia Dunlop

“Appetite for food and sex is human nature, shi se xing ye,' as the philosopher Gaozi said. Or, as the popular saying derived from the Book of Rites puts it: 'Eat, drink, man, woman' (yin shi nan nü). We are all animals, blessed with tongues, stomachs and sexual desires, in need of comfort and affection.”

Quote by Fuchsia Dunlop

Book:Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food
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Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food

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Fuchsia Dunlop

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“The saintlier a person appears, the more the devil thrives within, pulsating through their veins, ceaselessly vying for control over their mind, body, and spirit. It's not solely about who they appear to be or what they conceal deep inside; it's about the person poised at the threshold of these two realms, weathering storms from both sides. Continuously battling, they strive to maintain sanity and uphold their character amidst the tempest.”

PhilosophyInspirationReligionPsychologyHuman NatureMoralityEmpathyTragedyGood And EvilRighteousness
Book:I Saw The Devil
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“If a man gets his hands red with the blood of the innocent and he is conscious of this fact; he either spends the rest of his life in utter damnation and guilt or he commits further wreck still. He is a threat to the society as it stands. If such a person works hard, catches upon opportunity, is cunning, and has luck by his side he would turn the tables on the people. He sells massacre at the market, and he hangs and rips people apart in squares. To be born rich and powerful becomes a tragedy and for the first time, poverty is beautiful and desired. You won’t find poor, hardworking, grinding workers broken easily, they are resilient, but the rich and elite, become agitated at the first instance of discomfort. The man who took innocent lives to better his position becomes the devil that haunts the elite and the few days they do get to spend are equal to a whole life full of the misery of the slaves they made of others.”

PhilosophyPowerPsychologyHuman NatureCrimeEmotionsTragedyCorruptionHuman Relationships
Book:I Saw The Devil
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“So, if you take a look at, say, the work of Rousseau that I quoted, which is the 'Second Discourse on Inequality,' that's his most libertarian writing. He begins with a pretty strictly Cartesian view of animals as being machines, just reflexive machines, compelled to do what they do by internal and external circumstances, without the creative character of human thought and behavior. He then says, again in roughly Cartesian terms, that what is unique and distinctive about humans is this internal creative capacity. That's what makes humans different from the rest of the natural world. Then comes a thesis which is not proved, but it, I think, is plausible. Namely, any social arrangements that inhibit or constrain that free creative capacity are fundamentally illegitimate unless they can justify themselves. That means any structure of authority, domination, hierarchy - whether it's in a patriarchal family, or in international affairs, or anything in between - should be subject to challenge. It's not self-justifying. And I mean, you could see the chain of thinking. Notice, it's not a proof, but beginning with the observation that inherent to human nature, what's special about us, is this creative character. The free need to inquire, to create, to act, to choose what you do, how you speak, how you interact and so on. There's kind of a chain of thinking from that to the conclusion that the social structures which inhibit that are illegitimate unless proved otherwise. Like, sometimes you can give an argument in favor of authority. So, if I'm walking down the street with, say, my three-year-old granddaughter, and she runs into the street, and I grab her arm and pull her back, I think I can give a justification for that. But the point is that any form of authority and domination requires justification. And usually, you can't justify it, in which case you have to dismantle it and replace it by something more free and just.”

PowerHuman NatureAuthorityDominationHierarchy
Author:Noam Chomsky
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