“If within the last century art conceived as an autonomous activity has come to be invested with an unprecedented stature - the nearest thing to a sacramental human activity acknowledged by secular society - it is because one of the tasks art has assumed is making forays into and taking up positions on the frontiers of consciousness (often very dangerous to the artist as a person) and reporting back what's there.” IfsHumansPersonsArtLastsArtistConsciousnessCenturyDangerousPositionActivityTasksSecularFrontiersUnprecedentedStatureHuman ActivityAutonomousSecular Society Author:Susan Sontag
“More and more it seems to me that the philosopher, being of necessity a man of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, has always found himself, and had to find himself, in contradiction to his today: his enemy was ever the ideal of today. So far all these extraordinary furtherers of men whom one calls philosophers, though they themselves have rarely felt like friends of wisdom but rather like disagreeable fools and dangerous question marks, have found their task, their hard, unwanted, inescapable task, but eventually also the greatness of their task, in being the bad conscience of their time.” MenHardPhilosophySeemsTodayFoundFeltEnemyDangerousGreatnessFoolTomorrowConscienceIdealsTasksMarkExtraordinaryPhilosopherContradictionDisagreeableUnwantedQuestion Mark Author:Friedrich Nietzsche
“The United States has an isolationist and insular culture, combined with a global and interventionist posture. This highly dangerous and febrile mixture, which greatly facilitates the task of the fear-mongers and chauvinists, needs a very exact and nuanced diagnosis. I don't think that analogies from the totalitarian model, however suggestive, are sufficient.” ThinkingNeedsStatesCultureUnitedUnited StatesDangerousModelsTasksSufficientMixturesDiagnosisPostureAnalogiesFacilitate Book:For the Sake of Argument: Essays and Minority Reports Source: For the Sake of Argument: Essays and Minority Reports
“Louis [Leakey] was anxious to initiate a scientific study of these chimpanzees. It would be difficult, he emphasized, for nothing was known; there were no guidelines for such a field study; and the habitat was remote and rugged. Dangerous wild animals would be living there, and chimpanzees themselves were considered at least four times stronger than humans. I remember wondering what kind of scientist he would find for such a herculean task.” HumansKindWould BeRememberScienceDifficultAnimalKnownWonderStudyFourDangerousFieldsTasksScientistStrongerIronyAnxiousInitiateHabitatWild AnimalChimpanzeesGuidelinesRugged Author:Jane Goodall
“There will come a moment when the most urgent threats posed by the credit crisis have eased and the larger task before us will be to chart a direction for the economic steps ahead. This will be a dangerous moment. Behind the debates over future policy is a debate over history-a debate over the causes of our current situation. The battle for the past will determine the battle for the present. So it's crucial to get the history straight.” MomentsPastCausesBehindsSituationStepsEconomicDangerousPolicyBattleTasksCrisisThreatInvestingDetermineCurrentsCreditDebateCrucialUrgentCurrent Situation Author:Joseph Stiglitz
“People who do really dangerous tasks can't afford to sit around and discuss the merits of what they're doing.” PeopleDangerousTasksMerit Author:Sebastian Junger