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In a climate of fear, people worry about repression and so do not dare voice their opinions freely. Hate speech and shitstorms also create fear and thus hinder the free expression of opinions. We even fear thinking. We seem to have lost the
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“Unless we do conscious work on it, the shadow is almost always projected; that is, it is neatly laid on someone or something else so we do not have to take responsibility for it. This is the way things were done five hundred years ago, and most of us are still stuck in this medieval consciousness. The medieval world was based on mutual shadow projection; it thrived on a fortress mentality, armor, walled cities, possession by force, ownership of anything feminine by male prerogative, royal patronage, and city-states in perpetual siege at each other’s gates. Medieval society was almost entirely ruled by patriarchal values that are famous for their one-sidedness. Even the Church took part in shadow politics. Saints like Benedictine monasteries and some of the esoteric societies avoided the projecting game.”
― Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche
― Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche
“Love has never been a popular movement. And no one's ever wanted, really, to be free. The world is held together, really it is held together, by the love and the passion of a very few people. Otherwise, of course, you can despair. Walk down the street of any city, any afternoon, and look around you. What you've got to remember is what you're looking at is also you. Everyone you're looking at is also you. You could be that person. You could be that monster, you could be that cop. And you have to decide, in yourself, not to be.”
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“If you don’t ask large questions, you’re going to have a small life.”
― Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
― Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
“even the most artful guardians of the present system cannot prevent the awakening of proletarian thought.”
― What the "Friends of the People" Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats
― What the "Friends of the People" Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats
“Attention is a moral act: it creates, brings aspects of things into being, but in doing so makes others recede. What a thing is depends on who is attending to it, and in what way. The fact that a place is special to some because of its great peace and beauty may, by that very fact, make it for another a resource to exploit, in such a way that its peace and beauty are destroyed. Attention has consequences.”
― The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
― The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
A Song of Ice & Fire Fans
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For fan discussion of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice & Fire series. Occasionally referred to by the first book of the series, A Game of Thrones. ...more
/lit/ (2025 revival edition)
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No fun allowed. Reading top 100 books from the /lit/ chart.
Gene Wolfe Fans
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— last activity May 28, 2024 07:35AM
Described credibly as the greatest living writer of English, Gene Wolfe writes, fulfills, and transcends genres such Science Fiction, Speculative Fict ...more
Classics and the Western Canon
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This is a group to read and discuss those books generally referred to as “the classics” or “the Western canon.” Books which have shaped Western though ...more
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