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“It is my considered opinion, that for Britain and Europe, and for liberal democracy across the entire world as a whole, Britain’s departure from the European Union in the time of Donald Trump, and Britain’s consequent unqualified dependence on the United States in an era when the US is heading straight down the road to institutional racism and neo-fascism, is an unmitigated clusterfuck bar none.”
― Agent Running in the Field
― Agent Running in the Field
“Electorates tend to get the politicians they deserve.”
― The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It
― The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It
“We are a divided nation, Nat, as you will have noticed. The divisions between us across the country are neatly reflected in the divisions between our masters. No two ministers think the same way on the same day.”
― Agent Running in the Field
― Agent Running in the Field
“If you haven't read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren't broad enough to sustain you.”
― Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead
― Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead
“The president is a nationalist, which is not at all the same thing as a patriot. A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tells us that we are the best. A nationalist, 'although endlessly brooding on power, victory, defeat, revenge,' wrote Orwell, tends to be 'uninterested in what happens in the real world.' Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others. As the novelist Danilo Kiš put it, nationalism 'has no universal values, aesthetic or ethical.'
A patriot, by contrast, wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained. A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well—and wishing that it would do better.”
― On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
A patriot, by contrast, wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained. A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well—and wishing that it would do better.”
― On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
Simon’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Simon’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
4,525 books
|
119 friends
827 books
|
113 friends
675 books
|
120 friends
268 books
|
26 friends
726 books
|
103 friends
154 books
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86 friends
387 books
|
94 friends
209 books
|
122 friends
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Art, Business, Classics, Fiction, Historical fiction, History, Memoir, Philosophy, Poetry, Psychology, Self help, and Nonfiction
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Lists liked by Simon
