“Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist. That this simple truth is glossed over in criticisms of his work is due to the fact that white racism against Africa is such a normal way of thinking that its manifestations go completely unremarked.” ThinkingWayFactsSimpleWhiteTruth IsNormalRacismCriticismDuesManifestationRacistWay Of ThinkingSimple TruthsWhite Racism Book:Hopes and impediments: selected essays Source: Hopes and impediments: selected essays
“As there must be moderation in other things, so there must be moderation in self-criticism. Perpetual contemplation of our own actions produces a morbid consciousness, quite unlike that normal consciousness accompanying right actions spontaneously done; and from a state of unstable equilibrium long maintained by effort, there is apt to be a fall towards stable equilibrium, in which the primitive nature reasserts itself. Retrogression rather than progression may hence result.” MayLongSelfStatesDoneActionFallResultsEffortConsciousnessProduceNormalCriticismContemplationStablePerpetualPrimitiveModerationProgressionEquilibriumUnstableMorbidRight ActionSelf Criticism Author:Herbert Spencer
“It is often said that the progression from simple to complex runs counter to the normal statistics of chance that are formalized in the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Strictly speaking, we could avoid this criticism simply by insisting that the Second Law does not apply to living systems in the environment in which we find them. For the Second Law applies only when there is no overall flow of energy into or out of a system, whereas all living systems are sustained by a net inflow of energy.” DoeSaidRunningLawEnergyChanceSimpleEnvironmentAtheismNormalFlowCriticismComplexesPositive AtheismStatisticsProgressionInsistingThermodynamics Author:Jacob Bronowski
“Our normal tendency is to feel dissatisfied and to criticize our body, speech, and mind - My body is out of shape; my voice is unpleasant; my mind is confused. - We are so caught up in this pointless, neurotic habit of criticism that we disparage others as well as ourselves. This is extremely damaging.” FeelsMindWellsBodyVoiceHabitShapesSpeechNormalCriticismCaughtTendenciesConfusedCriticizeCaught UpNeuroticPointlessDissatisfied Book:Introduction to Tantra: The Transformation of Desire Source: Introduction to Tantra: The Transformation of Desire
“I guess it really didn't even dawn on me that you could be a rock critic as a job until I was maybe almost out of college. I knew criticism existed. I read Rolling Stone and Spin. Siskel and Ebert were on television. But I had absolutely no idea how to get that kind of life. And moreover, it didn't interest me that much. I just sort of read normal books growing up. I wasn't that media-conscious. I felt like the one thing I was able to do was to listen to a record and decide whether I liked it.” KindBookIdeasAbleJobsFeltInterestGrowing UpRecordsGrowingOne ThingRocksMediaTelevisionCollegeNormalConsciousStonesCriticismCriticsNo IdeaDawnRollingRolling Stones Author:Chuck Klosterman
“There are two ways of dealing with nonsense in this world. One way is to put nonsense in the right place; as when people put nonsense into nursery rhymes. The other is to put nonsense in the wrong place; as when they put it into educational addresses, psychological criticisms, and complaints against nursery rhymes or other normal amusements of mankind.” PeopleWorldWayTwoMankindThis WorldNormalCriticismEducationalPsychologicalOne WayAddressesNonsenseComplaintsRhymeAmusementTwo WaysRight PlaceNurseryNursery Rhymes Author:Gilbert K. Chesterton