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Quote by William Blum

“America's state religion, is patriotism, a phenomenon which has convinced many of the citizenry that 'treason' is morally worse than murder or rape.”

Quote by William Blum

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Author

William Blum
William Blum

William Blum, born in 1933, is an American author known for his works that focus on political, historical, and social issues. His writing is characterized by a critical perspective and in-depth analysis of power structures. more

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“We all love to think of excuses for why people who have what we want are somehow different from us: They were born into money. They are more attractive. Their life has been easier. They've gotten lucky. I'm sorry to break it to you, but that is a cop-out. There is no difference between you and the people you see achieving extraordinary things. They aren't special. But there's one thing for sure they've figured out: They don't let the world around them derail their dreams. They've learned to navigate the sky, to accept the weather as it comes, and to keep moving toward their goals no matter what. At some point they got sick and tired of worrying about what everybody else thought and just forced themselves to get to work. They are laser focused on waking up every day and proving, over and over through their actions, that they are worthy and deserving of the vision they have for their life. Everyday that you allow your fear of somebody else's opinion, stress over friendships, or concern about how someone will react to prevent you from making the phone call, filling out the application, working on the business plan, starting the diet, or putting in the effort, you'r holding yourself back. You're robbing yourself of your potential. You're standing while life moves on around you.”

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“The ones to fear are those who cannot realize it: the ones who just see the structure and bind themselves to it because they are otherwise afraid. They look at the structure, and they just see no other way. They cannot seek anything beyond it or do not want to. Yet, they will also vehemently deny that they are unable to venture beyond the structure and castigate others they perceive to have that inability so as to make themselves feel superior. They will even delude themselves into assuming that they are free of structural influence and will violently oppose any who say otherwise. They will say that the structures are a pragmatic necessity for social cohesion, but that they, even as willing participants in it, remain capable of acknowledging external terms and associations. They just choose not to—that’s the line they go with. They choose the structure for a lack of any better alternative and will not go without one. Perhaps they are naïve, in that sense, and it is easy for them to believe that those who seek to negate their structures are either unscrupulous, foolish, or ego-driven.”

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“Some people in my position would now have felt rather crestfallen, and would have begun to think that they had made a very foolish mistake. Not the faintest misgiving of any kind troubled me. I did not feel in the slightest degree depreciated in my own estimation. And even now, after a lapse of three hours, my mind remains, I am happy to say, in the same calm and hopeful condition.”

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“Ah, among the unhappiest blunders a man makes is this, that he childishly misjudges the value of the gifts that nature bestows on him most easily, and, contrariwise, considers most precious the endowments that come hardest. The precious stone buried in the earth's entrails, the pearl hidden in the ocean depths—these are what people regard as the greatest treasures; but they would look down on them if nature strewed them underfoot like pebbles and seashells. We are casual about our own excellences; we try to deceive ourselves about out weaknesses so long that we end up taking them for eminent virtues. Once, after a concert by Paganini, when I confronted the master with passionate praises for his violin playing, he interrupted me with these words: 'But today how did you like my bows, my genuflections?”

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