David Lanson

“Appointing unqualified figures is a key tactic of authoritarians, who turn to staffers who are fiercely loyal because they are not qualified or talented enough to rise to power in a nonpartisan system. They recognize that without the leader who elevated them, they will never again be in power—and sometimes will be in prison—so they will cleave to him to the end.”
― Heather Cox Richardson, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America

“Since the artist cares in a peculiar way for the phase of experience in which union is achieved, he does not shun moments of resistance and tension. He rather cultivates them, not for their own sake but because of their potentialities, bringing to living consciousness an experience that is unified and total.”
― John Dewey, Art as Experience

“Focusing on "representation" rather than helping the downtrodden is another luxury belief.”
― Rob Henderson, Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class

“the core challenge of managing our limited time isn’t about how to get everything done—that’s never going to happen—but how to decide most wisely what not to do, and how to feel at peace about not doing it.”
― Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals