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“No serious sociologist any longer believes that the voice of the people expresses any divine or specially wise and lofty idea. The voice of the people expresses the mind of the people, and that mind is made up for it by the group leaders in whom it believes and by those persons who understand the manipulation of public opinion. It is composed of inherited prejudices and symbols and cliches and verbal formulas supplied to them by the leaders.”
― Propaganda
― Propaganda
“Maybe, kneeling down to atoms, they're becoming atom-sized in their souls. Maybe a specialist is only a coward, afraid to look out of his little cage. And think what any specialist misses--the whole world over his fence.”
― East of Eden
― East of Eden
“Of all games in the world, the one most universally and eternally popular is the game of school. You collect six children and put them on a doorstep, while you walk up and down with the book and cane. Only one thing mars it: the tendency of one and all of other six children to clamour for their turn with the book and cane. The reason, I am sure, that journalism is so popular a calling, in spite of its many drawbacks, is this: each journalist feels he is the boy walking up and down with the cane. The Government, the Classes, and the Masses, Society, Art, and Literature, are the other children sitting on the doorstep.
[published in 1900]”
― Three Men on the Bummel
[published in 1900]”
― Three Men on the Bummel
“In Germany to-day one hears a good deal concerning Socialism, but it is a Socialism that would only be despotism under another name. Individualism makes no appeal to the German voter. He is willing, nay, anxious to be controlled and regulated in all things.
'You get yourself born,' says the German Government to the German citizen, 'we do the rest. Indoors and out of doors, in sickness and in health, in pleasure and in work, we will tell you what to do, and we will see to it that you do it. Don't you worry yourself anything.'
And the German doesn't.
[published in 1900]”
― Three Men on the Bummel
'You get yourself born,' says the German Government to the German citizen, 'we do the rest. Indoors and out of doors, in sickness and in health, in pleasure and in work, we will tell you what to do, and we will see to it that you do it. Don't you worry yourself anything.'
And the German doesn't.
[published in 1900]”
― Three Men on the Bummel
“Once three men were confined in a pitch-dark prison. Two of the men were intelligent, but one of them was a simpleton who knew nothing at all: he couldn’t put his clothes on, he didn’t know how to eat; nothing. One of the intelligent men worked hard to teach the simpleton to dress himself, to eat, to hold a spoon, and so on. The other intelligent man did nothing at all. One day the hardworking man asked the indifferent one, “Why don’t you make some effort to help teach the simpleton?” The other replied, “In this darkness you’ll teach him nothing, no matter how many years you spend. I use my time thinking of ways to break a hole in the wall to let in the light. When that happens, he’ll learn on his own what he needs to know.”
― Yiddish Folktales
― Yiddish Folktales
2026 Reading Challenge
— 35228 members
— last activity 45 minutes ago
Are you ready to set your 2026 reading goal? This is a supportive, fun group of people looking for people just like you. Track your annual reading go ...more
Never too Late to Read Classics
— 12149 members
— last activity 28 minutes ago
NTLTRC will help you find your love of Classcis! Find intrigue, well-developed characters, prose that is complex and beautiful, compelling stories tha ...more
Breaking The Code To The Catcher In The Rye
— 64 members
— last activity Aug 20, 2023 09:03PM
This is a group to explore the esoteric writings of The Catcher In The Rye through the lens of WW1 and WW2. To define that I take a quote from Phil ...more
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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— last activity 17 minutes ago
The world is made up of two kinds of people: first, those who love classics, and second, those who have not yet read a classic. Be bold and join us as ...more
Language & Grammar
— 2162 members
— last activity Mar 13, 2026 04:49AM
This group is for word lovers and has topics both serious (grammatical questions and concerns) and not so serious (word play and word games of all sor ...more
Cosmic’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Cosmic’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
1,052 books
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92 friends
7,863 books
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1,262 books
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4,242 friends
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