“Culture, then, is a study of perfection, and perfection which insists on becoming something rather than in having something, in an inward condition of the mind and spirit, not in an outward set of circumstances.” MindSpiritCultureStudyConditionsBecomingCircumstancesPerfectionInwardBecoming Something Author:Matthew Arnold
“Inequality has the natural and necessary effect, under the present circumstances, of materializing our upper class, vulgarizing our middle class, and brutalizing our lower class.” CultureNaturalJusticeClassMiddleEffectsCircumstancesDiversitySocial JusticeInequalityMiddle ClassUpper ClassLower Class Book:Delphi Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold (Illustrated) Source: Delphi Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold (Illustrated)
“It seemed [there are] musical nodes on the planet where cultures meet and mix, sometimes as a result of unfortunate circumstances, like slavery or something else, in places like New Orleans and Havana and Brazil. And those are places where the European culture and indigenous culture and African culture all met and lived together, and some new kind of culture and especially music came out of that.” KindSometimesTogetherCultureResultsPlanetsCircumstancesMetsSlaveryMusicalUnfortunateNew OrleansIndigenousBrazilHavanaAfrican CultureIndigenous CultureUnfortunate Circumstances Author:David Byrne
“Like sex, poverty and power, suicide may always be with us. But like them again, the actual form is takes is essentially time-specific and culture-bound, not only in the past but in the present too. The people who took their lives, the paths which led them to that end, and the experience of dying in this way were deeply influenced by specific historical circumstances. Only by making a greater effort at historical understanding can this most secret house of death be made to yield up more of its confidences.” PeopleWayMayMadeEndsPastFormCultureHouseSexUnderstandingEffortSecretPovertyPathGreaterDyingCircumstancesSuicideHistoricalBoundsYieldBritish History Author:David Cannadine
“I too acknowledge the all-out omnipotence of early culture and nature; hereby we have either a doddered dwarf-bush, or a high-towering, wide-shadowing tree! either a sick yellow cabbage, or an edible luxuriant green one. Of a truth, it is the duty of all men, especially of all philosophers, to note down with accuracy the characteristic circumstances of their education,--what furthered, what hindered, what in any way modified it.” MenWayCultureEducationTreeDutyCircumstancesSickGreenNotesPhilosopherWideAcknowledgeCharacteristicsYellowAccuracyDwarfsOmnipotenceDwarvesCabbage Author:Thomas Carlyle
“I have less time, less tolerance for bullshit, more interest in good taste, more confidence in my own judgement. The culture with which I surround myself is a reflection of my personality and the circumstances of my life, which is in part how it should be.” ShouldCultureInterestMy OwnPersonalityCircumstancesTasteReflectionToleranceJudgementSurroundBullshitGood Taste Book:Songbook Source: Songbook
“No race has the last word on culture and on civilization. You do not know what the black man is capable of; you do not know what he is thinking and therefore you do not know what the oppressed and suppressed Negro, by virtue of his condition and circumstance, may give to the world as a surprise.” ThinkingKnowsMenWorldGivingMayLastsCultureBlackRaceVirtueConditionsCircumstancesCivilizationCapableSurpriseOppressedLast Words Author:Marcus Garvey
“The Peloponnesian War turns out to be no dry chronicle of abstract cause and effect. No, it is above all an intense, riveting, and timeless story of strong and weak men, of heroes and scoundrels and innocents too, all caught in the fateful circumstances of rebellion, plague, and war that always strip away the veneer of culture and show us for what we really are.” MenWarStoriesShowsTurnsCultureStrongCausesEffectsHeroCircumstancesWeakCaughtIntenseAbstractDryRebellionTimelessPlagueCause And EffectScoundrelsChroniclesVeneerWeak Man Book:The Landmark Thucydides Source: The Landmark Thucydides