Harry Gaskins

“The Word of God tells us this: “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11 NLT).”
― Kathryn Krick, The Secret of the Anointing: Accessing the Power of God to Walk in Miracles

“After a moment I pushed my chair back and went over to the french windows. I opened the screens and stepped out on to the porch. The night was all around, soft and quiet. The white moonlight was cold and clear, like the justice we dream of but don't find.”
― Raymond Chandler, The High Window

“On our way down, we passed a two-story villa, hidden in a thicket of Chinese parasol trees, magnolia, and pines. It looked almost like a random pile of stones against the background of the rocks. It struck me as an unusually lovely place, and I snapped my last shot. Suddenly a man materialized out of nowhere and asked me in a low but commanding voice to hand over my camera. He wore civilian clothes, but I noticed he had a pistol. He opened the camera and exposed my entire roll of film. Then he disappeared, as if into the earth. Some tourists standing next to me whispered that this was one of Mao's summer villas. I felt another pang of revulsion toward Mao, not so much for his privilege, but for the hypocrisy of allowing himself luxury while telling his people that even comfort was bad for them. After we were safely out of earshot of the invisible guard, and I was bemoaning the loss of my thirty-six pictures, Jin-ming gave me a grin: "See where goggling at holy places gets you!"

We left Lushan by bus. Like every bus in China, it was packed, and we had to crane our necks desperately trying to breathe. Virtually no new buses had been built since the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, during which time the urban population had increased by several tens of millions. After a few minutes, we suddenly stopped. The front door was forced open, and an authoritative-looking man in plainclothes squeezed in.

"Get down! Get down!" he barked.

"Some American guests are coming this way. It is harmful to the prestige of our motherland for them to see all these messy heads!" We tried to crouch down, but the bus was too crowded. The man shouted, "It is the duty of everyone to safeguard the honor of our motherland! We must present an orderly and dignified appearance! Get down! Bend your knees!"

Suddenly I heard Jin-ming's booming voice: "Doesn'T Chairman Mao instruct us never to bend our knees to American imperialists?" This was asking for trouble.

Humor was not appreciated. The man shot a stern glance in our direction, but said nothing. He gave the bus another quick scan, and hurried off. He did not want the "American guests' to witness a scene. Any sign of discord had to be hidden from foreigners.

Wherever we went as we traveled down the Yangtze we saw the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution: temples smashed, statues toppled, and old towns wrecked. Litfie evidence remained of China's ancient civilization. But the loss went even deeper than this. Not only had China destroyed most of its beautiful things, it had lost its appreciation of them, and was unable to make new ones. Except for the much-scarred but still stunning landscape, China had become an ugly country.”
― Jung Chang, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

“Il Dr. Paul Arnheim non era soltanto un uomo ricco, era anche uno spirito superiore. La sua fama trascendeva il puro fatto che egli era l’erede di un giro d’affari di portata mondiale; nelle ore d’ozio aveva scritto libri che, nei circoli più avanzati, venivano giudicati straordinari. Le persone che fanno parte di tali circoli puramente culturali sono superiori al denaro e ai privilegi della borghesia; ma non si deve dimenticare che, proprio per questo, sono colte da un particolare entusiasmo quando un uomo ricco diventa uno dei loro; e, oltre tutto, nei suoi programmi e nei suoi libri Arnheim annunciava niente meno che la fusione di anima ed economia, vale a dire di idea e potere. Gli spiriti sensibili, dotati di un sottilissimo fiuto per il futuro, proclamarono che egli univa in sé quei due poli, nel mondo solitamente separati, e alimentarono la voce secondo cui stava nascendo una nuova forza, chiamata a dirigere ancora una volta verso il meglio i destini del Reich e, chissà, forse anche del mondo. Infatti, che i principi e i sistemi della vecchia politica e diplomazia stessero scarrozzando l’Europa verso la tomba era da tempo una sensazione universalmente diffusa, e s’era già iniziato in tutti i campi l’allontanamento degli esperti.”
― Robert Musil, The Man Without Qualities