“We do not need to minimize the poverty of the ghetto or the suffering inflicted by whites on blacks in order to see that the increasingly dangerous and unpredictable conditions of middle-class life have given rise to similar strategies for survival. Indeed the attraction of black culture for disaffected whites suggests that black culture now speaks to a general condition.” NeedsSufferingOrderCultureSpeakGivenBlackClassPovertyMiddleConditionsDangerousSurvivalStrategyAttractionMiddle ClassUnpredictableGhettoBlack CultureMiddle Class Life Book:The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations Source: The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations
“it is better to take experience, to suffer, to love, and to remember than to walk unscathed between the fires. I've had most immunities myself - the result of an independent income combined with a personality completely devoid of sexual attractions - the two fires of poverty and passion have therefore never burned me, and I am a lesser person for my safety.” PersonsTwoRememberSufferingPassionWalksResultsPovertyFirePersonalityExperienceIndependentSafetyAttractionIncomeBurnedImmunity Book:Letters to a Friend Source: Letters to a Friend