“One ideological claim is that private property is theft, that the natural product of the existence of property is evil, and that private ownership therefore should not exist... What those who feel this way don't realize is that property is a notion that has to do with control - that property is a system for the disposal of power. The absence of property almost always means the concentration of power in the state.” WayFeelsShouldMeanStatesEvilPoliticsRealizingNaturalExistenceEconomyProductsClaimsPropertyNotionAbsenceLiberalismConcentrationOwnershipTheftIdeologicalPrivate Property Author:Daniel Patrick Moynihan
“What's amazing to me is how many of the issues facing women in the ancient world still linger today. Take Odysseus' wife, Penelope, a brilliant, resourceful woman who ends up in a terrible situation: in her husband's absence, she is being held hostage in her own home by men who claim to be courting her. She tries to make them leave, but because she's a woman they refuse, blaming their bad behavior on her desirability.” MenWorldTryingStillsEndsHomeTodaySituationIssuesWifeTerribleHusbandBehaviorClaimsBlameAncientRefuseBrilliantAbsenceHostageResourcefulBad BehaviorOdysseusAncient WorldDesirability Author:Madeline Miller
“Atheism is the absence of a belief in a god, nothing more. If the theist wishes to draw monumental implications from this lack of belief, he must argue for his claims.” IfsBeliefWishAtheismDrawsClaimsAbsenceArguingImplicationsTheist Book:Atheism: The Case Against God Source: Atheism: The Case Against God
“But what, after all, is faith? It is a state of mind that leads people to believe something - it doesn't matter what - in the total absence of supporting evidence. If there were good supporting evidence then faith would be superfluous, for the evidence would compel us to believe it anyway. It is this that makes the often-parroted claim that 'evolution itself is a matter of faith' so silly. People believe in evolution not because they arbitrarily want to believe it but because of overwhelming, publicly available evidence.” PeopleIfsWantMindBelieveMatterStatesWould BeEvolutionEvidenceClaimsAvailableAbsenceSillyOverwhelmingState Of MindSuperfluousSilly People Author:Richard Dawkins
“And speaking of sex, the Immaculate Conception does not mean Jesus was conceived in the absence of sex. It means Mary was conceived without Original Sin. That's all it has ever meant. And according to the tabloids, Mary is apparently the only one who can make such a claim. The Jesus thing is called virgin birth.” MeanDoeJesusSexSinBirthClaimsOriginalsAbsenceConceptionMaryVirginsTabloidsOriginal SinImmaculateVirgin BirthImmaculate Conception Book:The Best of Brain Droppings Source: The Best of Brain Droppings
“In verity we are the poor. This humanity we would claim for ourselves is the legacy, not only of the Enlightenment, but of the thousands and thousands of European peasants and poor townspeople who came here bringing their humanity and their sufferings with them. It is the absence of a stable upper class that is responsible for much of the vulgarity of the American scene. Should we blush before the visitor for this deficiency?” ShouldSufferingHumanityPoorClassPovertySceneEnlightenmentClaimsResponsibleAbsenceLegacyStablePeasantsVisitorsDeficiencyVulgarityUpper Class Author:Mary McCarthy