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“Orwell is justly admired for his grasp of the essential truth that tyranny is incompatible with liberty. There is no such thing as a benevolent dictatorship, he taught us, whether it be a dictatorship of the left or of the right, or the white man's burden of imperial dictatorship.”
― Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-first Century, Library Edition
― Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-first Century, Library Edition
“The greatest danger to the State is independent intellectual criticism; there is no better way to stifle that criticism than to attack any isolated voice, any raiser of new doubts, as a profane violator of the wisdom of his ancestors.”
― Anatomy of the State
― Anatomy of the State
“Another lesson to be gleaned from Nanking is the role of power in genocide. Those who have studied the patterns of large-scale killings throughout history have noted that the sheer concentration of power in government is lethal—that only a sense of absolute unchecked power can make atrocities like the Rape of Nanking possible.”
― The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust Of World War II
― The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust Of World War II
“This is a terrible place to die in."
"Where is a good one?”
― Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West
"Where is a good one?”
― Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West
“Maybe fearing that Vaughan won’t understand why Debbie’s correct, Elliot chimes in: Debbie is 100% right here. Vaughan, you need to appreciate that “respecting the rule of law” only goes so far to explain or justify government behavior. To many people who follow human rights issues and international law, the foundation of international law is the rejection of the so-called Nuremberg defense—the claim by Nazi’s that they “were just following orders” and respecting the laws and policies of the Nazi state. Vaughan simply thanks Elliot for “the articulate background.” I can’t tell if he’s being brazen or genuine. There is simply no putting this man off his putt. Either way, I think the point at which you have to explain Nuremberg to the head of the team leading your China entry is probably a red flag.”
― Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
― Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
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