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“Everyone knows the
story of the traveler in Naples who saw twelve beggars lying in the sun
(it was before the days of Mussolini), and offered a lira to the laziest of
them. Eleven of them jumped up to claim it, so he gave it to the
twelfth. this traveler was on the right lines. But in countries which do
not enjoy Mediterranean sunshine idleness is more difficult, and a
great public propaganda will be required to inaugurate it. I hope that,
after reading the following pages, the leaders of the YMCA will start a
campaign to induce good young men to do nothing. If so, I shall not
have lived in vain.”
― In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays
story of the traveler in Naples who saw twelve beggars lying in the sun
(it was before the days of Mussolini), and offered a lira to the laziest of
them. Eleven of them jumped up to claim it, so he gave it to the
twelfth. this traveler was on the right lines. But in countries which do
not enjoy Mediterranean sunshine idleness is more difficult, and a
great public propaganda will be required to inaugurate it. I hope that,
after reading the following pages, the leaders of the YMCA will start a
campaign to induce good young men to do nothing. If so, I shall not
have lived in vain.”
― In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays
“We know from our recent history that English did not come to replace U.S. Indian languages merely because English sounded musical to Indians' ears. Instead, the replacement entailed English-speaking immigrants' killing most Indians by war, murder, and introduced diseases, and the surviving Indians' being pressured into adopting English, the new majority language.”
― Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
― Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
“The worst is not death but being blind, blind to the fact that everything about life is in the nature of the miraculous. The language of society is conformity; the language of the creative individual is freedom. Life will continue to be a hell as long as people who make up the world shut their eyes to reality.”
― Stand Still Like the Hummingbird
― Stand Still Like the Hummingbird
“A group experience takes place on a lower level of consciousness than the experience of an individual. This is due to the fact that, when many people gather together to share one common emotion, the total psyche emerging from the group is below the level of the individual psyche. If it is a very large group, the collective psyche will be more like the psyche of an animal, which is the reason why the ethical attitude of large organizations is always doubtful. The psychology of a large crowd inevitably sinks to the level of mob psychology. If, therefore, I have a so-called collective experience as a member of a group, it takes place on a lower level of consciousness than if I had the experience by myself alone.”
― The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
― The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
“How pleasant a world would be in which no man was allowed to operate on the Stock Exchange unless he could pass and examination in economics and Greek poetry, and in which politicians were obliged to have a competent knowledge of history and modern novels.”
― In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays
― In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays
Trevor’s 2025 Year in Books
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