“Choosing beauty over content (or choosing beauty as content) is always an act of sedition. If we accept the cant of official culture, we must believe that the beauty we steal from any man-made thing is stolen from its more virtuous and metaphysical backstory, wherein "real" beauty is said to reside.” IfsMenBelieveMadeSaidRealCultureAcceptingStealingOfficialsVirtuousMetaphysicalStolenCantReal BeautyMan Made Things Author:Dave Hickey
“Officials from the soccer organization FIFA, which decides which cities get to host the World Cup, are accused of accepting bribes when making their decision. Of course the toughest part for the soccer officials was taking bribes without using their hands.” WorldHandsCoursesDecisionCitiesAcceptingOrganizationCupsSoccerOfficialsHostAccusedWorld CupBribeFifa Author:Jimmy Fallon
“A sound American is simply one who has put out of his mind all doubts and questionings, and who accepts instantly, and as incontrovertible gospel, the whole body of official doctrine of his day, whatever it may be and no matter how often it may change. The instant he challenges it, no matter how timorously and academically, he ceases by that much to be a loyal and creditable citizen of the republic.” MindMayMatterWholeBodyAmericaTimeSoundChangeChallengesAbilityAcceptingDoubtAcceptanceCitizensLoyaltyCeaseDoctrineInstantOfficialsRepublicLoyalQuestioning Book:Mencken Chrestomathy Source: Mencken Chrestomathy
“In Russia no one is surprised when an official accepts a bribe while at the same time portraying the state as some sacred entity to which the bourgeois should pay homage. This all sounds absurd. But for Russians it is completely normal.” ShouldStatesSoundPayAcceptingNormalSacredRussiaAbsurdOfficialsEntityBourgeoisHomageBribePortraying Author:Vladimir Sorokin
“In this country, intellectual cowardice is the worst enemy a writer or journalist has to face ... Unpopular ideas can be silenced, and incovenient facts kept dark, without the need for any official ban ... At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of iedas which it is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question.” PeopleThinkingNeedsIdeasCountryMomentsFactsBodyFacesGivenDarkAcceptingEnemyWorstIntellectualJournalistOfficialsCowardiceOrthodoxyBansWorst Enemy Author:George Orwell
“I believe in an America ... where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches, or any other ecclesiastical source.” BelieveAmericaI BelieveChurchAcceptingPolicySourceI Believe InSeparationOfficialsInstructionPopeCouncilRequestChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StatePublic PolicySeparation Between Church And StateTheocracyPublic Officials Author:John F. Kennedy
“Almost no one will accept responsibility for his or her role in precipitating a crisis: not leveraged speculators, not willfully blind leaders of financial institutions, and certainly not regulators, government officials, ratings agencies or politicians.” GovernmentResponsibilityLeaderAcceptingRolesPoliticianCrisisInstitutionsBlindFinancialAgencyOfficialsRatingRegulatorsGovernment OfficialsSpeculatorsFinancial Institutions Author:Seth Klarman