Mastodawn

It is commonly assumed that what human beings want is to be comfortable. Well, we now have it in our power to be comfortable, as our ancestors had not. Nature may occasionally hit back with an earthquake or a cyclone, but by and large she is beaten. And yet exactly at the moment when there is, or could be, plenty of everything for everybody, nearly our whole energies have to be taken up in trying to grab territories, markets and raw materials from one another. Exactly at the moment when wealth might be so generally diffused that no government need fear serious opposition, political liberty is declared to be impossible and half the world is ruled by secret police forces. Exactly at the moment when superstition crumbles and a rational attitude towards the universe becomes feasible, the right to think one’s own thoughts is denied as never before. The fact is that human beings only started fighting one another in earnest when there was no longer anything to fight about.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-11-29), “As I Please” column, Tribune Newspaper

More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/84548/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #comfort #fight #humancondition #humannature #imperialism #needs #possibilities #progress #struggle #war #wealth #aggression

Orwell, George - Essay (1946-11-29), "As I Please" column, Tribune Newspaper | WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations

Show thread

Jack William Bell 4d ago

@dirkhh @mastodonmigration

I appear to be in the minority with this, but I really don't give a fuck who 'wins' the #SocialMedia wars. The people chasing clicks can all leave the #Fedi and I'll be just as happy doing what I do here. Maybe even happier.

Yes, corporate Social Media was a mistake and it always will be. It succeeds by hacking the tribal nature of the #HumanCondition for profit. But, again, I don't care. I refuse to participate and I'm happy there's a lot of mutants like me.

WIST Quotations Jun 16

A quotation from Euripides

MEDEA: I know indeed what evil I intend to do,
   But stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury,
   Fury that brings upon mortals the greatest evils.

[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: Καὶ μανθάνω μὲν οἷα τολμήσω κακά,
   θυμὸς δὲ κρείσσων τῶν ἐμῶν βουλευμάτων,
   ὅσπερ μεγίστων αἴτιος κακῶν βροτοῖς.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 1078ff (431 BC) [tr. Warner (1944)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/84529/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #medea #anger #conscience #crime #evil #evildoing #fury #humancondition #humannature #intentions #judgment #misdeed #paassion #rage #reason #selfawareness #selfcontrol #selfdestructiveness #wrath

WIST Quotations Jun 12

A quotation from Orwell

When one considers how things have gone since 1930 or thereabouts, it is not easy to believe in the survival of civilization. I do not argue from this that the only thing to do is to adjure practical politics, retire to some remote place and concentrate either on individual salvation or on building up self-supporting communities against the day when the atom bombs have done their work. I think one must continue the political struggle, just as a doctor must try to save the life of a patient who is probably going to die. But I do suggest that we shall get nowhere unless we start by recognizing that political behaviour is largely non-rational, that the world is suffering from some kind of mental disease which must be diagnosed before it can be cured.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-11-29), “As I Please” column, Tribune Newspaper

More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/49725/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #civilization #humancondition #irrationality #madness #persistence #politics #struggle #surrender #rootcause

Orwell, George - Essay (1946-11-29), "As I Please" column, Tribune Newspaper | WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations

Bhyllabus l'énigme Jun 9

On Fear, and the Crossing

Konten ini menggali berbagai pandangan filosofis tentang ketakutan, menjelaskan bahwa ketakutan bukanlah musuh, tetapi teman yang perlu dipahami. Dari ajaran kuno hingga pemikiran modern, ketakutan dianggap sebagai bagian dari pengalaman manusia yang dapat membawa pencerahan dan pertumbuhan, bukan penghalang. Dengan keberanian, rasa ingin tahu, dan komunitas, kita dapat menghadapi ketakutan dan menemukan makna dalam hidup.

https://legawa.com/2026/06/09/on-fear-and-the-crossing/

WIST Quotations Jun 7

A quotation from Adlai Stevenson

Sacrifice, patience, understanding, and implacable purpose may be our lot of years to come. Let’s face it. Let’s talk sense to the American people. Let’s tell them the truth, that there are no gains without pains, that there — that we are now on the eve of great decisions, not easy decisions, like resistance when you’re attacked, but a long, patient, costly struggle which alone can assure triumph over the great enemies of man — war, poverty, and tyranny — and the assaults upon human dignity which are the most grievous consequences of each.

Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-07-26), Democratic National Convention, Chicago

More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-adlai-ewin…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #adlaistevenson #candor #coldwar #conflict #decisions #honesty #humanrights #poverty #tyranny #war #challenge #struggle #humancondition #purpose #progress #sacrifice

Stevenson, Adlai - Speech (1952-07-26), Democratic National Convention, Chicago | WIST Quotations

Sacrifice, patience, understanding, and implacable purpose may be our lot of years to come. Let's face it. Let's talk sense to the American people. Let's tell them the truth, that there are no gains without pains, that there -- that we are now on the eve of great decisions, not…

WIST Quotations

SICK CUNT DRACONES Jun 6

going to bed too late is a mistake that can’t be undone. and 1 day is exactly enough time to forget that you shouldn’t do it again #Why #HumanCondition #HumanSuffering #GodsCruellestTrick

pcwartist Jun 5

Check out this reading of The Human Core by the author Philip Charles Williams.

And also check out the poem itself and be sure to subscribe! https://zurl.co/N9D2l

#PoetryTok #PoemTok #Poetry #SpokenWord #WritingCommunity #BookTok #PoetryLover #OriginalPoetry #PoetryReading #PoetryStatus
#Poetry #Poem #Poets #PoetryCommunity #WritingCommunity #PoetsOfInstagram #InstaPoetry #PoetryIsNotDead #IGPoets #PoetsOfIG #LifeStruggles #Impermanence #ReflectivePoetry #HumanCondition

Front Page [Unofficial]Jun 1

The one sign that someone is highly intelligent, according to literary genius Leo Tolstoy

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/tolstoys-sign-someone-is-highly-intelligent-ex1/

WIST Quotations May 29

A quotation from Cesare Pavese

I’ve made a lot of stupid mistakes. Everyone does in this life. The real affliction of old age is remorse.

[Ho fatto molti stupidi errori, se ne fanno nella vita. I veri acciacchi dell’età sono i rimorsi.]

Cesare Pavese (1908–1950) Italian writer. essayist, literary critic
The Moon and the Bonfire [La Luna e i Falò], ch. 8 [The Cavaliere] (1950) [tr. Sinclair (1952)]

More about this quote: wist.info/pavese-cesare/83914/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cesarepavese #gettingold #growingold #humancondition #mistakes #oldage #regrets #remorse

Pavese, Cesare - The Moon and the Bonfire [La Luna e i Falò], ch. 8 [The Cavaliere] (1950) [tr. Sinclair (1952)] | WIST Quotations

I've made a lot of stupid mistakes. Everyone does in this life. The real affliction of old age is remorse. [Ho fatto molti stupidi errori, se ne fanno nella vita. I veri acciacchi dell’età sono i rimorsi.] (Source (Italian))

WIST Quotations