“Fear of the mob is a superstitious fear. It is based on the idea that there is some mysterious, fundamental difference between rich and poor, as though they were two different races, like Negroes and white men. But in reality there is no such difference. The mass of the rich and the poor are differentiated by their incomes and nothing else, and the average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit. Change places, and handy dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief? Everyone who has mixed on equal terms with the poor knows this quite well. But the trouble is that intelligent, cultivated people, the very people who might be expected to have liberal opinions, never do mix with the poor. For what do the majority of educated people know about poverty?”
― Down and Out in Paris and London
― Down and Out in Paris and London
“Ultimately Rockefeller's confidence games proved wildly successful. At its height, his fortune outstripped those of all the other robber barons-even Carnegie's, by a hair. By 1913, Rockefeller's net worth totaled nearly a billion dollars, or 2 percent of the U.S. gross national product; a comparable share today would give Rockefeller a net worth of $190 billion, or more than triple that of the richest man in the contemporary world, Bill Gates.”
― Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877-1920
― Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877-1920
“In order to be successful in any undertaking, I think the main thing is for one to grow to the point where he completely forgets himself; that is, to lose himself in a great cause. In proportion as one loses himself in this way, in the same degree does he get the highest happiness out of his work.”
― Up from Slavery
― Up from Slavery
“We and the world, my children, will always be at war.
Retreat is impossible.
Arm yourselves.”
― Peace Like a River
Retreat is impossible.
Arm yourselves.”
― Peace Like a River
“War is society's dirty work, usually done by kids cleaning up failures perpetrated by adults.”
― What It is Like to Go to War
― What It is Like to Go to War
Travis’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Travis’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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